This past weekend was the annual desiFEST show, which is North America’s leading outdoor South Asian music concert. The organizers were celebrating their 10th year journey with 20 different acts from around the world.  Thousands of people attended the show to check out acts like Delhi 2 Dublin, En Karma, H-Dhami, Mohua Parial and Anita Lerche.

The reverberations of music embraced a multitude of sounds ranging from Hindi to Punjabi, Tamil to English amongst others, captivating the more than 40,000 desi urban music lovers spellbound to the diverse tones of the South Asian music scene.

En Karma with desiFEST founder Sathish Bala and H Dhami

 â€œThis journey to create a music platform that helps break down barriers and stereotypes within our community, open doors, connect people, encourage creativity and passion and most of all, ensure that we as South Asians enable our kids to live their passion, regardless of what it is, has become my life’s purpose,” said desiFEST founder – Sathish Bala.

H Dhami entertains the massive crowd

Visitors were also treated to the taste of South Asian cuisine at the outdoor food market, shopping among local artisans in the marketplace, the Kids Zone and lots of giveaways throughout the day.

This year, desiFEST also hosted three unique events to showcase the growing talent in the South Asian community. These included an all-female lineup called She Rocks featuring Jasmine Sandlas who performed for the first time in Toronto on May 25.   The songwriter, singer and performer who has been featured on the MTV Coke Studio and Spoken Word platforms, entertained the Toronto audience with her special brand of Bollywood and Punjabi music.

Me with Jasmine Sandlas

“We wanted to create a platform that celebrates and spotlights the growing community of female artists within our community. The inaugural lineup spotlights five individuals breaking down stereotypes, changing perceptions and inspiring a new generation of female artists” said Bala.

On May 26, it was Bollywood Bonanza, First Open Mic Night with DJs A-Slam and DJ SatsB, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society. The next day, desiFEST hosted a distinguished panel of industry experts at the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre in Toronto with a discussion of all aspects of the South Asian music industry in North America.   Several elements of South Asian music were debated and discussed and several panelists concluded with a wish and vision for South Asian Grammys and a South Asian Music Hall of Fame in the future.

Check out the photos! (Photo credit: amindhillon.com and Crystal Media)

DJ Amita and me!

Anita Lerche

Anita Lerche and me

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