Festival of India

I attended the second day of the festival. The weather was a bit overcast but it was still a pretty hot day. The food was fantastic and as always, you pay a little more for the sample size meals. Indian desserts were available but I opted out of those. Did a little shopping and located beautiful traditional two-​pieces outfits with exquisite hand-​beaded details. These are perfect for dressy occasions! Note — the music entertainment was everything but traditional Indian; it was more on the funky R&B side.

This was my first year attending the Festival of India in Charlotte. To me it was lackluster and too expensive. I have been to other cultural festivals in the area that were less expensive and more fun.
$ 5 for parking. $ 5 to enter inside… don’t waste your money as there is dancing, music, food, and items for purchase on the street. FYI Henna tattoos are inside but costs another $ 5. The Henna work I paid for was only done on one finger and was sloppy. I dished out too much money at this festival and won’t be returning next year. I’ll just go eat at an Indian restaurant instead!

Having moved back to Charlotte after a few years being gone, I decided to attend a festival I pretty much ignored the last time I lived here. That festival was the Festival of India.
This 2 day event runs about 6 hours each day starting at 12 noon until 6 or 7 at night.
This year it was held at the new Knight Theater in the Western part of Tryon Street.
To reiterate some of Jason’s comments, this festival has been happening close to 2 decades and though the overall event is small in both size and attendence, it is nice to see such cultural diversity thrive in such a Southern city such as Charlotte.
This festival has the backing of the Mayor and the City and features India specific food vendors, a Bazaar selling and displaying traditional India clothing and wear as well as multiple cultural programs.
For this event it wasn’t free and a $ 5 charge to get inside the Knight Theater with very few booths was a bit much, but it did allow me get get Henna on my hand which is always a treat for me.
The festival is gone now… but it will be back next year, so check it out.

Festival of India is the first weekend of September in front of the Knight Theater. They close off two blocks on Tryon and it’s a proper street fair with music and food outdoors.
2010 marked the 16^th annual India Festival and outside the food vendors were great. We had samosas, chicken and rice, and shaved ice for dessert.
You have to buy tokens to get food and it was $ 5 to enter the theater but well worth it to see authentic costumes and dancing.