Wedding procession theme of Punjabi group’s Thanksgiving Day parade float

The Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago kept its tradition of participating in the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade held on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, on Chicago’s State Street.

“PCS has been participating in this parade since 2005. It gives our Indian community great exposure in the mainstream, and it shows our commitment to celebrate the American festivals, in solidarity with the American people,” said PCS President Surinder Singh Sangha.

Celebrating its 80th year, the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade is one of Chicago’s premier holiday events. PCS was a part of more than 100 contingents marching the parade route north on State Street from Congress to Randolph.

“The theme of the PCS float and its contingent was an Indian Punjabi wedding procession (Baraat), which included the bride and the groom in traditional Punjabi wedding outfits, the baraatis in festive ethnic costumes, Punjabi Dhol (drum), amplified Bhangra music and street dancing,” said Rajinder Singh Mago, PCS Board of Governors.

Mona and Manjeet Bhalla were the bride and the groom, newlyweds Jaswant and Yasmin Sodhi were the best man and bridesmaid, Kevin Atwal and Ryan Singh played Punjabi Dhol, along with Twin Beats DJ Punjabi music to set the dancing mood and keep the crowd engaged. University of Illinois at Chicago and DePaul University Bhangra troupes led the PCS float with Punjabi folk dances choreographed to Bhangra music blasting from the float to the spectators lined along the route.

The PCS participation was organized by Surinder Singh Sangha, Pardeep Singh Deol, Vick Singh, Gurmit Singh Dhillon, Balwinder Singh Girn, Sunny Kular, Ronny Kular, Mohinderjit Singh Saini, and Rajinder Singh Mago with the help of many youth volunteers, including Harleen Kaur Saini, Bikram Singh Chohan, and Irnjyot Kaur Sanghera.

Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago (PCS) is a Palatine-based nonprofit 501(c)3 organization promoting education, good citizenship, community development, civic commitment and involvement and preserving Punjabi culture, language, sports and performing arts among its community members and also mainstream Americans in the Midwest and beyond. PCS caters to this need both by directly organizing events that bring community members together from all over the Midwest region, and by facilitating participation of its community members in mainstream activities.

For information, contact the Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago at 847) 359-5PCS or info@PCSChicago.org. Visit, www.PCSChicago.org.

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