And while are celebrating this Independence Day, we realize that we may have our differences of opinion, but the spirit of India runs in all of us.
One has a parade with floats and an elaborate fashion show in a Fremont parking lot while the other is set in a beautiful park in downtown San Jose easily accessible by light rail. But the Bay Area’s dueling festivals this weekend to honor India’s independence appeared to have everything else in common — great food, cute kids busting a move, and a chance to reunite with old friends.
After 12 years of luring the Bay Area’s Indo-American community to Fremont to celebrate the annual Festival of India, a rift and power struggle among organizers this year forced a splinter group to carry out a threat to host a rival event, India’s Independence Day Celebration, for the first time in San Jose. Both celebrations are this weekend, and both are drawing large crowds. By 5 p.m. Saturday, an estimated 10,000 tickets were sold in Fremont and 4,000 in San Jose, organizers said.[San Jose Mercury News]
