Bay Area Indo-American groups fail to team up for a unified festival Associated Press
FREMONT, Calif. - More than 150,000 Indo-Americans in the Bay Area would remain split in celebrating India's Independence Day this summer as their attempt to hold a unified event recently broke up.
The bickering among the three rival Indo-American groups came less than a week after they announced they would combine their separate festivals into a unified event in Fremont this summer.
Leaders of the three groups say that the tug-of-war over who would take the initiative and get credit for what has led them to decide to part ways.
Last week, the groups announced they would get over their personal differences for the sake of the Indo-American community after holding three separate festivals last year in Fremont, Union City and Santa Clara.
Festival organizers said they realized it looked silly - to their own community and to the mainstream public - that their groups couldn't get along.
A unified festival would have signified the end of infighting for the Bay Area's Indo-American community of 155,000 and made it easier to rake in revenue from virtually the same vendors and advertisers.
"It's not good for anybody," said Sam Rao, a Fremont community activist. "The silent majority wish the community would come together and have this showcase event in America. We'd rather have one big show."
Organizers, however, are still hoping that one day, they can work together.
"We're all sad and disheartened," said restaurateur Anil Yadav, who represents one of the groups. "There's only one Chinese parade in San Francisco and one Cinco de Mayo in San Jose."