Please note: The Age Limit has been removed.  This competition is open to those of all ages.

PTC Punjabi Presents… The 2010 Mr. and Miss. Punjabi American Talent Contest

At the 16th Punjabi American Festival On May 30th, 2010 at Yuba Sutter Fair Grounds, Yuba City, CA

This competition is open to individuals of any age, who have lived in the USA for more than two years. Please note that this competition is based on a talent. This is not a beauty pageant.

Qualification criteria:
All participants need to submit a DVD or video (can be posted on youtube.com) which shall be no more than 6 minutes in length (3 minutes for Talent and 3 for speech). A talent may be: Singing Music, Dancing, Comedy, Martial art, Mimicker or anything else you think is creative and artistic. All participants are limited to one category. The speech component topic is “Why I am proud of my roots!”

All DVDs must be received by PAHS before May 15th, 2010 or post marked no later than May 13th, 2010. Your DVD must be accompanied by your name, copy of a photo id (DMV or School ID), cell phone number and email address that will be used to notify you about your selection. By submitting an entry, participant agrees to and understands that the program and content will be recorded and televised.

Selection Criteria:
Our selection committee will review all applicants and narrow it down to 16 entries for the semifinal round. The 16 entries will include 8 females and 8 males. Selected individuals will be notified one week before they compete on May 29th before a panel of judges. These 16 will then be narrowed down to a selection of 4 males and 4 females who will be chosen to present themselves for the final round during the Mela the following day on May 30th.

The individuals chosen will repeat their 3 minutes speech item (30 points), Perform their talent/art live before the judges (50 points) in Punjabi attire (10 points). Participant will be asked the following question (10 points):

How do you plan to contribute to your community in the future? (10 bonus points awarded if you answer in Punjabi).

The final round selection criteria will be similar to the pattern above but you will be judged on a different set of questions. In the final round, judges will assign 60 points. The final 40 points will be based on audience response.

The final competition will be aired on PTC and Crossing TV Channels in major cities of USA and Canada also locally (Yuba City) on Apna Punjab. Mr. & Miss Punjabi American winners will be awarded a $1000 scholarship award and Runners up will receive a $500 award each. All 16 semi-final participants will receive medals of participation. All entries will receive a certificate and one mela admission ticket.

Please mail your DVD to: 481 Plumas Blvd, Suite 104 Yuba City, CA 95991 Entries or questions can be emailed to: Punjabiamerican@gmail.com

This competition is presented by PTC Punjabi, USA and the Punjabi American Heritage Soceity.  For CROSSINGS TV on Comcast Channel 236 in Central Valley, CA and Channel 503 on Time Warner in New York and New Jersey

Download the flyer for the competition.

This year’s festival will highlight performances by internationally acclaimed artists such as  K.S. Makhan, Comedian Gurpreet Ghuggi, Balvir Boparai, Surinder Shinda, & more.

For high resolution flier click here

Website: Punjabiamericanheritagesociety.org

The Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds will host more than 12 000 people this Sunday, May 27th during the 13th Annual International Punjabi American Festival. Sponsored by the Punjabi American Heritage Society of Yuba City, the festival is a way for those with Punjabi roots to celebrate and share their culture with fellow Americans.

Date: Sunday, May 27th, 2006 Time: 11:00 am to Sun Set Location: Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds, Yuba City

The Punjabi American Heritage Society was founded in 1993 with the purpose of creating a better understanding amongst different people living in this area and to educate children about their ancestral roots. In the past thirteen years, many events have been organized to improve awareness and to educate fellow Americans.

At this year’s festival, hundreds of local performing artists, including students from California schools, colleges and universities, will perform traditional Punjabi dances such as Bhangra, Giddha, Jhumar, Malwai Giddha and other ethnic dances. In addition, vendors will be on hand providing many Punjabi and South Asian delicacies. This year’s festival will highlight performances by internationally acclaimed artists such as Sukhshinder Shinda from UK (first performance in USA with live band of ten musicians) http://www.sukshindershinda.com and Pammi Bai from Punjab, India with 14 dancers: http://www.pammibai.com

Festival will also feature a documentary: Divided We Fall: http://www.dwf-film.com
A man who calls himself a patriot murders a turbaned American on Sept. 15, 2001. In the aftermath of 9/11, as grief turns into rage on American city streets, temples are burned, homes vandalized, people assaulted. Barely broadcast on airwaves, these stories travel by word-of-mouth to the far reaches of a small California farming town, compelling a college student to step beyond the familiar threshold of her life. Armed with only a camera, an American college student journeys across the country to find out who counts as one of us in a world divided into them and us. Valarie Kaur captures hundreds of stories never before told – stories of fear and unspeakable loss, but also of resilience and hope – until she finally finds the heart of America, halfway around the world.

The Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds will host more than 15, 000 people Sunday, May 29th during the 11th Annual International Punjabi American Festival. Sponsored by the Punjabi American Heritage Society of Yuba City, the festival is a way for those with Punjabi roots to celebrate and share their culture with fellow Americans.

Date: Sunday, May 29th, 2005
Time: 11:00 am to 8 pm
Location: Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds, Yuba City

The Punjabi American Heritage Society was founded in 1993 with the purpose of creating a better understanding amongst different people living in this area and to educate children about their ancestral roots. In the past twelve years, many events have been organized to improve awareness and to educate fellow Americans.

At this year’s festival, hundreds of local performing artists, including students from California schools, colleges and universities, will perform traditional Punjabi dances such as Bhangra, Giddha, Jhumar, Malwai Giddha, Gujarati and Mexican dances. In addition, vendors will be on hand providing many Punjabi and South Asian delicacies.

This year’s festival will also highlight performances by internationally acclaimed artists, Jassi Sidhu from UK, Lehmbhar Singh Hussianpuri and Balvir Boparai from Punjab, India.

Festival will also feature award winning documentary “Continuous Journey” by Ali Kazimi from Canada. On May 23rd, 1914, the Japanese shipping vessel Komagata Maru, chartered by Sikh businessman Gurdit Singh, arrived in Canada’s Vancouver Harbor. Aboard were 376 migrants of Indian origin, citizens of the British Empire who believed it their right to move and settle freely within its domain. Upon anchoring, however, the passengers were prevented from disembarking by local Canadian officials, whose decision reflected a growing nationwide resistance to non-white immigration. This refusal to allow the Indian passengers ashore galvanized the nascent Vancouver Indian community, fueling an outbreak of support for their countrymen and trapped without provisions for over two months, aboard a ship anchored only a heartbreaking half-mile from shore.

For more information please call Siri Pritam Kaur Khalsa @ 530-632-5315 for sponsorships, Satnam Tatla @ 530-315-1248 for booths and exhibits, Hardeep S Dhadli @ 530-682-2102 for tickets and for participation may send email to Punjabifestival2005@yahoo.com

The Ninth Annual Punjabi American Festival treated more than 10,000 festival goers to a diverse selection of cultural heritage, including world-class entertainment and mouth watering food. Held at the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds on Sunday May 25th, and sponsored by the Punjabi American Heritage Society of Yuba City, the festival is a way for those with Punjabi roots to celebrate and share their culture.

Upon entering the festival grounds, one could not help but notice the flowing native dresses and colorful turbans, which added to the cosmopolitan air of the fairgrounds. Walking the grounds, participants enjoyed the tantalizing tastes of the exotic foods of Northern India along with Punjabi clothing, jewelry, art, books and more.

Inside the Fairgrounds auditorium, life in Punjab was depicted through a photo exhibit by Professor Janmeja Singh Johl and a painting exhibition by Jarnail Singh. In another auditorium, three educational documentaries in English were shown to the diverse crowd, including Mistaken Identity, Punjabi Village and Roots in the Sand.

The Punjabi American Heritage Society was founded in 1993 with the purpose of creating a better understanding amongst different people living in this area and to educate our children about their ancestral roots. In the past ten years, many events have been organized to improve awareness and to educate fellow Americans.

Throughout the day, from the opening of the fairgrounds, hundreds of local performing artists, including students from California schools, colleges and universities, performed traditional Punjabi dances such as Bhangra, Giddha, Malwai Giddha, Bengali and Gujarati. There were also guest performances by Scottish and Hispanic performers. The festival ended on a high note, highlighted by internationally acclaimed artist, Harbhajan Singh Mann while Manmohan Singh, Bollywood movie director, was honored for his work on the latest Punjabi movie: Jee Ayaan Nu.

Punjabis have roots in the Punjab region between India and Pakistan. Punjabis come from all faiths. While a majority of Punjabis in the USA adhere to the Sikh religion, many wearing a Sikh turban and beard, other Punjabis are of Muslim, Hindu, or Christian faiths.

Punjabis were the first group of people from South Asia to start migrating to the United States more than a century ago. Between 1903-1908, Punjabis primarily worked on the Western Pacific Railways in Northern California. And two thousand Punjabis worked on a 700-mile road between Oakland and Salt Lake City, which today is modern interstate 80.

The growing network of railroad lines brought increased agricultural activity to large areas of the Sacramento Valley. Because of their agricultural experience from the Punjab Indus Valley, which historians acknowledge was one of the first civilizations to invent agriculture, Punjabis started moving into farming jobs. Today Punjabis play a vital role in the agricultural industry of the entire Central and Sacramento Valley’s, and make up a majority of the South Asian population while also working in all kinds of businesses and professions.

Date: Sunday, May 25th
Time: 11:00 am to 8 pm (best time is mid-day, approx 3 – 4 pm)
Location: Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds, Yuba City

Punjabi Americans have their roots in the Punjab region between India and Pakistan. While a majority of Punjabis in the USA adhere to the Sikh religion, many wearing a Sikh turban and beard, other Punjabis are of Muslim, Hindu, or Christian faiths.

Punjabis were the first group of people from South Asia to start migrating to the United States more than a century ago. Between 1903-1908, Punjabis primarily worked on the Western Pacific Railways in Northern California. And two thousand Punjabis worked on a 700-mile road between Oakland and Salt Lake City, which today is modern interstate 80.

The growing network of railroad lines brought increased agricultural activity to large areas of the Sacramento Valley. Because of their agricultural experience from the Punjab Indus Valley, which historians acknowledge was one of the first civilizations to invent agriculture,
Punjabis started moving into farming jobs. Today Punjabis play a vital role in the agricultural industry of the entire Central and Sacramento Valley’s, and make up a majority of the South Asian population.

The Punjabi American Heritage Society was founded in 1993 with the purpose of creating a better understanding amongst different people living in this area and to educate children about their ancestral roots. In the past ten years, many events have been organized to improve awareness and to educate fellow Americans.

At this year’s festival, hundreds of local performing artists, including students from California schools, colleges and universities, will perform traditional Punjabi dances such as Bhangra, Giddha, Jhumar, Malwai Giddha, Bengali and Gujarati. Traditional and modern styles of dance will also be presented. There will also be guest performances by Scottish and Hispanic
performers. In addition, vendors will be on hand providing many Punjabi and South Asian delicacies.

This year’s festival will also highlight performances by internationally acclaimed artist, Harbhajan Singh Mann while Manmohan Singh, Bollywood movie director, will honored for his work on the latest Punjabi movie: Jee Ayaan Nu.

This year’s festival will also feature: a photo exhibit by Professor Janmeja Singh Johl; a painting exhibition by Jarnail Singh; and three educational documentaries in English: Mistaken Identity, Punjabi Village and Roots in the Sand.

Punjabi American heritage society was founded in 1993 with the purpose of creating better understanding amongst different people living in this area and educate our children about their roots. So far we have organized many events in this area including seven successful Punjabi American festivals. Last year our festival was attended by more than tens thousand people.  This year our festival will highlight performances by world famous artists including Jaspinder Narula from Bollywood, award winning singer Mr. A S Kang from United Kingdom, Micky Narula from Punjab, India and Dya Singh World music group from Australia (best male vocalist year 2000).

We will also feature documentary in English “ Discovering Sikh Americans” by Vinanti Sarkar from New York. Many artists including 300 students from California will participate. We will also have Ameican, Mexican and Gujarati dances in addition to very popular Punjabi Bhangra and Malwai Gidda dancers. There will be many cultural exhibits and plenty of Punjabi and south Asian food booths. Please also check our flier enclosed with this email