FLORIDA COMMUNITIES CELEBRATING THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

TAMPA/PINELLAS PARK

Urban Craft Ship will hold Florida Diwali Mela on Saturday, Oct. 11, at Sickles High School, 7950 Gunn Highway, Tampa. The 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. event will feature food, clothes, jewelry, henna, craft, game room, performances, etc. The Mela is free with online registration at www.floridadiwalimela.com or call (813) 466-2733.

Gujarati Samaj of Tampa Bay is hosting a Diwali dinner from 5 to 7:30 p.m. followed by a Musical Night featuring Shivam Raval and Rekha Rawal on Saturday, Oct. 25, at India Cultural Center, 5511 Lynn Road, Tampa. The event is free for GSTB members and $75 for non-members. For information, call GSTB President Bhavik Modi at (813) 557-4555.

Sanatan Mandirin Tampa will hold Diwali celebration – Laxmi and Chopda Pujan from 6 p.m. on Oct. 20 followed by Gujarati New Year next day from 6 p.m. Annakut will be from noon on Oct. 26. The mandir is at 311 E. Palm Ave. For information, call (813) 221-4482 or visit www.sanatanmandirtampa.org

Shree Raam Mandir,7411 E. Comanche Ave., in Tampa, will have Grand Diwali celebrations featuring songs, music, dance and drama from 6 p.m. on Oct. 18. For information, call (813) 334-0443.

Hindu Temple of Florida in Tampa will hold its annual Deepawali celebrations from 7 p.m. on Oct. 18 with fireworks and mahaprasad at India Cultural Center, 5511 Lynn Road, Tampa. For information, call (813) 962-6890 or visit https://www.htfl.org/

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandirwill celebrate Diwali from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. with mahaprasad and aarti followed by Chopda Pujan on Oct. 20. Annakut/New Year will be on Oct. 22 from 1 to 7 p.m. with aarti every hour. Mahaprasad will be served. Kids’ Diwali celebration will be from 11 a.m. on Oct. 11. BAPS is at 9556 E. Fowler Ave. in Thonotosassa. For details, call (813) 986-5473.

SOUTH FLORIDA

DAVIE: The Indian Regional and Cultural Center will hold its Diwali festivities from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8, at a new location – Rick Case Arena, Don Taft University Center at Nova Southeastern University, S.W. 75th Ave., Davie. The program will include music and dance performances, including bhangra, Bollywood, folk dances. Other attractions are food, fashion, jewelry and henna. Tickets are $15. Call Sanjay Gupta at (954) 461-4003 or visit www.irccflorida.org

WEST PALM BEACH: Palm Beach India Association will hold a Diwali Show from 5 p.m. on Oct. 25. For venue and other details, visit www.gopbia.org or email [email protected]

ORLANDO/CASSELBERRY/OCOEE/WINTER PARK

Hindu Society of Central Florida (1994 Lake Drive)in Casselberry will celebrate Diwali and Annakut on Saturday, Oct. 25, with several competitions and cultural programs, fireworks. For information, call (407) 574-1814 or visit www.orlandohindutemple.org

Gujarati Society of Central Florida will hold Diwali Celebration from 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Olympia High School, 4301 S. Apopka Vineland Blvd., Orlando. Festivities include a live music concert, one-hour comedy show and a seated dinner. It is free for GSCL members and $75 for non-members. For information, visit www.gujaratisocietycfl.com or call Chirag at (407) 797-9407.

Maa Durga Sri Sai Baba Temple will celebrate Diwali from 5 p.m. on Oct. 26 with a cultural program, fireworks and dinner. The temple is at 11414 S. Apopka Vineland Road, Orlando. For information, call (407) 437-6709 or visit www.durgasaitemple.com

Punjabi Association of Central Florida will hold its annual Diwali Dhamaka from 6 p.m. on Oct. 11 at Ocoee Lakeshore Center, 125 N. Lakeshore Drive, Ocoee. Tickets are $75 adults, $35 for children 6 to 12 years of age and free for kids 5 and under. For information, call President Rishi Bagga at (407) 808-8331.

Orlando Magic will host their annual Diwali celebration with pre-game and halftime presentation Oct. 24 at Kia Center, 400 W. Church St., Orlando. Tickets for the 7 p.m. game begin at $25. Visit www.iaccorlando.com for information.

Agrawal Samaj of Orlando will hold Diwali Milan from 5 p.m. Nov. 1 at 1680 Hawkcrest Drive, Winter Park. There will be cultural programs, DJ, games. Tickets are $70 per person, $135 couple. For information, call (201) 850-3273

Hindu Society of Central Florida New Age Group will hold Diwali Music Masti from 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 5 in the community hall, 1994 Lake Drive, Casselberry. A Karaoke machine will be available for members to sing songs and have fun. RSVP at [email protected]

JACKSONVILLE

Indian Cultural Society of Jacksonville will hold Grand Diwali Festival from 1 p.m. Oct. 26 at Florida Theatre, 128 E. Forsyth St., #300, Jacksonville. For information, email [email protected] or visit www.jaxics.org

BARTOW/WINTER HAVEN/LAKELAND

Bhartiya Samaj of Central Florida will celebrate Diwali at 6 p.m. on Oct. 19 at Bartow Civic Center, 2250 S. Floral Ave., Bartow. For information, call Subhash Patel at (863) 838-0969 or visit www.bscfl.com

Shree Swaminarayan Hindu Temple (ISSO), 2793 New Tampa Highway, Lakeland, will celebrate New Year and Annakut on Oct. 25. Tulsi Vivah will be on Nov. 9. For information, call (863) 687-4776 or visit www.issolakeland.org

OCALA

India Ocala Association will celebrate Diwali from 6 p.m. Nov. 8 at Cultural and Educational Center, 2030 N.E. 36th Ave. For details, call (352) 575-1111 or visit indiaocala.org

FORT MYERS/NAPLES

FORT MYERS: India Association of Fort Myers will hold a Diwali Gala from 6:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at Luminary Hotel ballroom, 2200 Edwards Drive, Fort Myers. Cost for adults is $105 members, $125 non-members, and includes five-course dinner, DJ, dancing, live Bollywood show and photo booth. To purchase tickets, visit www.iaftmyers.org

NAPLES: India Association of Naples will hold a Grand Diwali Celebration from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Oct. 18 at Parish Hall, St. Agnes Church, 7775 Vanderbilt Beach Road, Naples. Email [email protected] for cost and other details or call (239) 272-8259.

MELBOURNE/VIERA (SPACE COAST)

Indian Association of the Space Coast will hold Diwali Annual Dinner from 6 p.m. to midnight on Nov. 8 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Community, 5655 Stadium Parkway, Melbourne. Members are free; and nonmembers pay $30. For details, call (321) 271-7072.

Manav Mandirwill hold Diwali celebrations (Laxmi Puja, fireworks) on Oct. 21 and Annakut Utsav the next day. The temple is at 7400 Waelti Drive, Melbourne. For timing and other details, call (321) 426-0668 or visit www.mmbrevard.org

TALLAHASSEE/MONTICELLO

Hindu Temple of Tallahassee will hold Diwali Mela on Oct. 18 from 2:30 p.m. at 2716 Gamble Road, Monticello (next to Econo Lodge Hotel). There will be games, food and fireworks. For information, call the mandir at (850) 402-4117 or email [email protected]

KHAAS BAAT LAUNCHES ANNUAL SPONSOR DRIVE

By NITISH S. RELE and SHEPHALI J. RELE

After completing our 21-year anniversary last month, we launched an annual sponsor drive to secure funds to cover production costs. Since its inception, Khaas Baat has been mailed free to subscribers around the state with only a handful of paid subscribers in the past few years. We are proud that during the pandemic we continued publishing regularly. In fact, we haven’t skipped an issue since we began printing in August 2004. Also, the entire print version of the newspaper can be found online. Since ad revenues alone do not cover our monthly production costs (printing, design, mailing), we are in need of corporate or private sponsors. Your backing will allow us to continue to publish Khaas Baat as a high-quality newspaper proudly serving our community.

Please send your contribution via Zelle to (813) 758-1786 or you can PayPal ID to: [email protected] You may also send a check addressed to KHAAS BAAT and mailed to KHAAS BAAT, 8312 WINDSOR BLUFF DRIVE, TAMPA, FL 33647.
With our festival season under way, we request community leaders and organizers to email event details to [email protected] by the 20th of the month to be included in the following month’s issue. We always welcome your story ideas and suggestions to best serve our community.

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