Holiday Dinner & Dance bedazzles one and all

		Jason Kenny, Canada’s minister for citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism, emphasized the growing bilateral ties between Canada and India at the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s Holiday Dinner & Dance Extravaganza held November 20 at Mississauga’s Radisson Plaza Hotel. “The recent visit of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to India will revitalize all aspects of the bilateral relations,” Minister Kenny said.

Admiring the opulent décor at the venue especially created to match the theme of An Evening of Royal Indian Celebration and Extravaganza, Minister Kenny remarked, “I’ve been to many events but none that can match this grandeur.”

Minister Kenny’s sentiments were echoed by over 400 honoured guests including more than 20 VVIPs who graced occasion with their presence.

The invitees were all Royal Guests at the Maharaja's Palace, and the Chamber didn’t spare any effort in pampering them to a royal treatment of their senses. The guests were a witness a spectacle of majestic sights and entertainment, they experienced the regal sounds of the era and indulged their taste buds with the splendid foods and embraced the opulence and luxury all evening long.

The guests were greeted at the venue with a traditional welcoming ceremony – the Shahi Swagat – taken right out of medieval times. They were subsequently ushered into the royal darbar (hall) in a Shahi Barrat (royal procession), and their arrival into the darbar was grandly announced by Shahi Farman. Thereafter, the guests were entertained to a royal folk entertainment program comprising Panwar Dance and Music, Shastra Veda, Martial Dance Entertainment (by Impact Toronto). The Shahi Dawwat (royal dinner) followed with 'Jashn-e-bahaar' – a theme based entertainment segment inspired from the Bollywood film Jodha Akbar devised and executed by Melange Entertainment. The program concluded with Nritya Kala.

This year’s Holiday Dinner & Dance was by far the biggest and the grandest ever organized by the chamber.