Another Grand Vaisakhi Mela Brings the House Down!
Grand Vaisakhi 2025 Mela volunteers
STAFFORD: Riding on the heels of two years of successful and widely attended events, this year’s Grand Vaisakhi Mela was much anticipated by the local community, especially since the same team – the Punjabi Cultural Society of Greater Houston – brought it together this past Saturday, April 19, with the energetic Jasmeeta Singh once again at the helm. Making it even more prominent was that it was held at the Stafford Centre auditorium which can hold 1200 people, and the hall was at capacity.
Emcee Jyoti Sharma brought charm and energy from Canada.
There were incredible performances from 264 talented participant artists from across Texas, including the Houston Bhangra Academy and nine Houston area desi dance schools. Besides the Punjabi songs, bhangra, gidha and folk songs, there was a fashion show featuring a wedding celebration coordinated by Jasmeeta Singh and Zakia Qadri. There was even a turban tying competition, to everyone’s delight!
Particularly noteworthy were Jyoti Sharma, who traveled from Canada to emcee the show, bringing her charm and energy to the stage, and Jasmeeta’s mom, Davinder Kaur, who came from Michigan to participate with a song. In the lobby areas, there were 10 creatively decorated booths offering a shopping experience for everyone.
Snacks for sale were available from Mahesh’s Kitchen with both owners Shubhangi and Neelesh Musale present. A raffle was held featuring chef tasting for two at Musaafer Restaurant; high tea for two at Kiran’s restaurant; dinner for $150 at Aling’s Bistro; a special 2 porcelain chai tea set from Simran Patel, and raffles from the booths, which was a hit.
One chief guest Dass Atma Singh, Executive Director of Sikhnet. com, received an award for his unwavering commitment to the Sikh community. Other Chief Guests for the event were Consul General of India DC Manjunath; Mayor of Stafford Ken Mathew; Mayor of Missouri City Robin Elackatt; Judge Manpreet Monica Singh, of Harris County Civil Court #4 and Judge Juli Mathew of Ft Bend County Court #3.
India’s Consul General DC Manjunath with Jyoti Sharma and main coordinator Jasmeeta Singh.
Pulling off the successful event to run smoothly took the efforts of dedicated directors and volunteers like CJ Kindra for the booths; Gurmeet Ki dra and Jasleen Kaur for the PSGH booth and backstage direction; Harmeet Singh, Ekta Singh, Harshdeep Lamba, Ishleen Gulati, Akash Singh (Music DJ) and Gurpreet Bhusri for taking care of the bands; Gaganpreet and Kavanpreet for taking care of the tickets; Gautam Swami for taking care of the raffle; Sukhpreet Kaur, Pinder Gill and Jasmeeta’s son Japraj Singh. Two special people, Dalvir Boparai and Vani Jain showed extreme dedication to managing the event.
Decor was by Creating memories with Tanvir and Simranjit. Photography was by Kirubha Sankari Kittusamy of KRPA Photography; videography was by Chaya Studio and radio promotion was by Music Masala radio 98.7 FM; Indo American News Radio and 103.3 FM.
Jasmeeta Singh’s mother Davinder Kaur came from Michigan and performed a song.
Grand Vaisakhi Mela 2025 Sponsors
Platinum: Gurminder Singh Padda; Inderjit Kaur; Bobby & Jasmeeta Singh; Harindar Singh & Jasleen Kaur; Aman Singh Sidhu & wife; Dr. Ruhi Soni & Samit Soni; Daswandh Network.
Diamond: Dr. Harman Buttar & Dr. Jaswant Pandher; Dr. Ann & Kenny Friedman; Jasmeet Buttar
Gold: Sony & Simmi Kohli; Dr. Winnie & Aku Bedi; Sabir F. of Fs Group; Sandip Bisla; Daljit Singh & Sukhpreet Kaur; Satyajit Kar & wife; Preetam Singh Toor & wife.
Silver: Jasmeet & Raman Johar; Parul Fernandes; Bombay Sweets; Kulwant Singh Paul & Manmeet Likhari; Gurmeet & Ruppy Kindra; South Asian American Real Estate Association; Sheetal Bedi; Harcharan Singh & wife; Soodan Family; Bakshish Josan & wife; AJ Murjani; Tandoori Twist; Preeti & Mandeep Singh; Romi Singh & Dr. Rajpeet Kaur; Amrit Singh & Kulvinder Kaur.
Bronze: Hasu Patel; Ajit Singh Kwatra & wife; Harjit & Seema Galhotra; Dr. Sewa & Kuldip Legha; Jia Dhaliwal.
