BRAMPTON: The Airport Lacoste Centre’s first annual summer festival was a roaring success, with thousands of Bramptonians making a beeline for the shopping Centre on Saturday.
Organised by the management of Airport Lacoste Centre comprising Satish Thakkar of Excelsior Group, Mejor Natt of Asian Food Centre, Avninder Singh of Akal Optical and Harkanwal Thind of GTR Property Management, the festival promoted local small businesses and provided an opportunity for the community to bond with local entrepreneurs while simultaneously being entertained.
“Started in 2015, the Airport Lacoste Centre has over 30 small establishments catering to diverse needs of local residents ranging from groceries to spectacles and pastries to medical services; it provides employment to over 100 people,” Satish Thakkar of the Excelsior Group said.
The Excelsior Group also operates the popular South Indian restaurant Simply South at the centre.
The highlight of the festival was free food provided by Simply South and Asian Food Center to all guests who participated in support of the Sick Kids Foundation.
“Over 7,000 guests enjoyed the free meals,” Mr. Thind said, adding that all voluntary donations made by the guests were donated to Sick Kids.
The festival was organised to herald summer, which is the festival season in Canada, and heralds the season of Indian festivals.
The festival commenced at noon and continued all the way up until late evening. It included life-size games, magic show, Yoga, kids’ rides and activities, photo booth, shopping bonanza and, of course, choice South and North Indian cuisine. The festival also organised bridal shows representing seven Indian states and their cultural wedding traditions. Also on show was a pet fashion show where smartly attired pets walked the ramp.
A live snake dance was part of a belly dance performance. The other highlight of the festival was live acts by over 200 local artists who performed dances, songs and skits for a large audience that ballooned to a few thousand as the evening became ripe.
Akal Optical gave away over 1,500 sunglasses to guests at the festival in support of Sick Kids.
Xpert Tutoring, Quick Mart Convenience, Lacoste Bakery, S. Dhillon Dentist and AAA Driving School also offered lot of free give away to the participants. Among the VIPs who graced the occasion with their presence included Raj Grewal, Member of Parliament, Gurpreet Dhillon, Brampton City Councillor,DP Singh, Council Welfare of the Consulate General of India, and Angad Singh, MLA from Nawanshahr in Punjab.
The festival managed by AJ Media Entertainment lived up to its promise to be a unique experience of sights, and sounds and a feel of summer along with a gamut of diverse perspectives, entwined through a core that fosters a sense of belonging to the community.
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