Some of the Florida communities celebrating of the festival of nine nights are:
TAMPA/PINELLAS PARK
The Gujarati Samaj of Tampa Bay will celebrate Navratri on Oct. 16, Oct. 23-24, and Oct. 31 at the USF Sun Dome, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa. The Samir Date and Dipalee Somaiya group and Khelaiya Group will perform. Beginning at 8 p.m., the event is free for Samaj members; seniors and students are $10 and adults are $15. Dandiya will be available for purchase and parking is $10 per car. For more information, call GSTB President Sudhir Shah at (727) 686-7424.
The Sanatan Mandir at 311 E. Palm Ave., Tampa, will celebrate Navratri beginning Oct. 13 with Durga Puja daily from 6 to 8 p.m. Dussehra celebrations will be 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24. For details, call the temple at (813) 221-4482, email [email protected] or visit www.sanatanmandirtampa.org
Ambaji Mandir at 10991 58th St., in Pinellas Park, will celebrate Navratri with daily garba at 7:30 p.m. from Oct. 13-22. Dusshera will be celebrated on Oct. 23. For more information, call the Mandir at (727) 388-6685 or visit www.ambajimandir.org
Sri Laxmi Narayan Mandir will hold Navratri celebrations daily from Oct. 13-23 with garba singing/dance from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. There will be a Sri Mahalaxmi Havan from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 17. Sri Laxmi Narayan Mandir is at 4615 George Road, Tampa. For information, call the temple at (813) 444-9786.
SOIKOT (Bengali Association of Greater Tampa Bay) will hold Durga Puja on Oct. 23-25 at India Cultural Center, 5511 Lynn Road, Tampa. Lakshmi Puja will be on Nov. 1 at Land O' Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O' Lakes Blvd. For details, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.soikot.org
Telangana Association of Florida will hold Bathukamma (Dussera celebrations) from 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 18 at Lettuce Lake Park (shelters 2 and 3), 6920 E. Fletcher Ave., Tampa. For information, call Veena at (813) 476-9508.
ORLANDO/CASSELBERRY/LAKE MARY
The Gujarati Society of Central Florida will hold Navratri Garba on Oct. 9-10, Oct. 16-17, and Oct. 23-24 at Lyman High School, 865 S. Ronald Reagan Blvd., Longwood. Admission is free for Gujarati society members; $30 per day for non-members and $15 for students with ID. For information, call (407) 460-2020 or visit http://www.gujaratisocietycfl.com/
The Indian Cultural Society of Orlando will hold Navratri Raas Garba on Oct. 16-17 and Oct. 23-24 from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Lake Mary High School, 655 Longwood Lake Mary Road, Lake Mary. It is free for cultural society members. For information, call Chandresh Patel at (407) 721-5878 or visit www.icsocfl.com
The Hindu Society of Central Florida (HSCF) temple will present Navratri Garba and live music Raas and garba from Oct. 13-22 in the community hall, 1994 Lake Drive, Casselberry. Snacks will be available at the canteen stall. Dussehra celebration will be from 5 p.m. on Oct. 24. For more information, call Mahesh Kapadia at (407) 902-8634, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.hindutempleorlando.org
And Maa Durga Sri Sai Baba Temple will present free Garba Night from 8 p.m. Oct. 23-24 at Jewish Community Center Hall, 11184 S. Apopka Vineland Road, Orlando (which is close to the temple). For information, call (407) 437-6709 or e-mail [email protected]
SOUTH FLORIDA
FORT LAUDERDALE: The Indian Regional & Cultural Center (IRCC) will celebrate Navratri from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Oct. 17 and Oct. 23-24 at Silver Trail Middle School, 18300 Sheridan St., Fort Lauderdale. IRCC members pay $10 per day, non-members are $15 and seniors are $5. For information, call (954) 543-1539 or visit www.irccflorida.com
PALM BEACH: The Palm Beach India Association will celebrate Navratri/Garba at 8 p.m. on Oct. 9-10 and Oct. 16-17. For venue and other information, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.gopbia.com
BARTOW/LAKELAND/WINTER HAVEN
The Bhartiya Samaj of Central Florida will celebrate Navratri at 8 p.m. on Oct. 9-10, Oct. 16-17, and Oct. 23-24 at Bartow Civic Center, 2250 S. Floral Ave., Bartow. For more information, call Subhash S. Patel at (863) 648-0294, Vinoobhai Patel at (863) 293-0942 or visit www.bscfl.com
OCALA/BELLEVIEW
The India Association Cultural & Educational Center will hold Navratri from 9 p.m. on Oct. 16-17, Oct. 21 and Oct. 23-24. For details, call (352) 873-4519, visit www.indiaocala.org or e-mail [email protected]
GAINESVILLE
The Gujarati Samaj of Gatorland in Gainesville will celebrate Navratri on Oct. 16-18, Oct. 21, and Oct. 23-24 at Kanapaha Middle School, 5005 S.W. 75th St., Gainesville. The event is free for Samaj members; $10 for non-members and $5 for non-member students. For details, email [email protected]
JACKSONVILLE
The Gujarati Samaj of North East Florida will celebrate free Raas-Garba night from 8 p.m. to midnight on Oct. 10 (Raawal Brothers to perform).
Also, GSNEF will celebrate Absolute Navratri on Oct. 16-17 (Dhoom Unlimited) and Oct. 23-24 (Sachin Limaye and group). Daily tickets are $10. Venue for all events is Jacksonville Ice & Sportsplex, 3605 Phillips Highway, Jacksonville. For more information, visit www.gsnef.org
MELBOURNE (SPACE COAST)
The Indian Association of the Space Coast will hold Navratri celebrations from 7 to midnight Oct. 16-17 and Oct. 23-24 at Viera High School, 6103 Stadium Parkway, Viera. For more information, call (321) 302-1870, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.iascbrevard.com
Also, Manav Mandir temple, 7400 Waelti Drive, Melbourne, will begin Navratri, Garba and Amba Puja at 7:30 p.m. daily from Oct. 13 for nine days. Durga Ashtami Havan will be on Oct. 21 and Dassera on Oct. 22. For information, call (321) 426-0688 or visit www.mmbrevard.org
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ORLANDO CRICKET FESTIVAL TAKES THE CREASE OCT. 9-11
The weekend of Oct. 9-11 will mark an important and exciting milestone in the young life of American Cricket Federation. After five months of intense competition between 17 leagues spread across six geographically dispersed divisions from Southwest to New England and Midwest to Florida, eight cricket teams have emerged to play for the title of America’s third National Cricket Champion.
The division winners, Florida All-Stars (also the defending champions), Massachusetts Patriots, Midwest Chargers, NTCA heat, NYBCL Jets, Occa Cougars, Philadelphia Tigers and SCCA Kings will play a series of 40 overs matches on Friday, Oct. 9, and Saturday, Oct. 10, at four cricket grounds in Orlando – Silver Star, Avalon Park, Eagle’s Nest and Poinciana Cricket Ground. The top two teams will clash on Sunday, Oct. 11, at the Silver Star ground (2801 N. Apopka-Vineland Road) for the title of the National Champion and will represent the United States in the North American Cricket Championship against Canada in March 2015 in Phoenix. VIP guest for the finals will be West Indian great Michael Holding.
“ACF is proud and excited to partner with Florida Cricket Conference, one of the ACF member leagues, and patrons in the local Indian-American community like Dr. Mahesh Allam, Rahul Joshi, Kunal Patel and Khalid Motiwala to bring a cricketing event of national importance to the Orlando region,” said ACCL Commissioner Avinash Varma. “The ACF National Championship will go a long way in raising the profile of cricket not only in Florida, but across the nation.”
For more information, call Dr. Mahesh Allam at (863) 207-3056, Rahul Joshi at (407) 435-8826 or email [email protected] or visit www.acfchampionsleague.org or www.americancricketfederation.org
OVER 400 ATTEND MELBOURNE CONCERT
More than 400 people were present in Melbourne for the Geet and Ghazal Concert Sept. 12 by Sejal Ghayal and Jaswinder Singh.