Actors Samantha, Jacqueline Fernandez take part in 41st ‘India Day Parade’ in New York City

New York City in the United States witnessed the world’s largest annual ‘India Parade Day’ on Sunday.

An event to pay homage to India’s Independence Day, which was recently celebrated across India. This year marked the 41st parade that began around 12pm (local time) on 38th Street and Madison Avenue in New York.

Among the attendees were spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, actors Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Jacqueline Fernandez, and New York City mayor Eric Adams. The parade was organised by the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), a non-profit organization representing the growing Indian diaspora in the Northeast USA. It was established in 1970.

In a video shared by the news agency ANI, actress Jacqueline Fernandez was seen taking part in the parade, waving the tricolour flag along her way. On the parade route, members of the Indian diaspora tried to capture her moments. The performances featured participants dressed in festive outfits, dancing and playing drums. The parade brought together a vibrant mix of cultures and patriotism.

New York City in the United States witnessed the world’s largest annual ‘India Parade Day’ on Sunday, an event to pay homage to India’s Independence Day, which was recently celebrated across India. This year marked the 41st parade that began around 12pm (local time) on 38th Street and Madison Avenue in New York.

Among the attendees were spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, actors Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Jacqueline Fernandez, and New York City mayor Eric Adams. The parade was organised by the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), a non-profit organization representing the growing Indian diaspora in the Northeast USA. It was established in 1970.

In a video shared by the news agency ANI, actress Jacqueline Fernandez was seen taking part in the parade, waving the tricolour flag along her way. On the parade route, members of the Indian diaspora tried to capture her moments. The performances featured participants dressed in festive outfits, dancing and playing drums. The parade brought together a vibrant mix of cultures and patriotism.

‘India Day Parade’ in New York
The parade in New York City is the biggest among those carried out outside India. It is a huge event where thousands of people from the Indian community come together to celebrate their culture. The event includes Indian performances, a fair about taking care of the environment, a big parade with colourful floats carrying important messages, a global food festival featuring healthy millet foods, lots of tasty food stalls, and more. It is seen as a really big celebration for Indian Americans living there.

Theme this year
This year, the theme is “Mission Life”, which is also a big movement started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mission LiFE aims to turn the idea of living in a way that iss good for the environment into real actions. The goal is to get people all around the world to work together to protect and save the environment.

“Mission life is lifestyle about the environment. We want to tell the world that we must change our behavioural habits. We must change the way we live if we care about the planet,” Randhir Jaiswal, the Consul General of India in New York said. He further added that the global community is celebrating the year of millets which are considered superfoods that can also help the planet because they can be grown with less water than other foods.

Film stars at ‘India Day Parade’
Actoe Samantha, who has announced a break from acting due to health issues, also took part in Sunday’s India Day Parade in New York. “It is truly an honour for me to be here today…you have made me realise how rich my culture and heritage is and what I have seen today will last me for a lifetime. Thank you for all the support through the years. Thank you USA for supporting every film of mine,” Samantha said.

She will be next seen in the movie ‘Kushi’ with Vijay Deverakonda and also in the upcoming Indian Citadel with Varun Dhawan.

Alongside her, actress Jacqueline Fernandez also attended the event.

Many Indian celebrities have been invited to the parade in the past, including Arjun Rampal, Abhishek Bachchan, Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah Bhatia, Sunny Deol, Allu Arjun, and Raveena Tandon.