Washington Telugu Samithi's Ugadi and Sri Rama Navami celebrations were unique and culturally diverse. Approximately 2500 people attended the event held at Redmond High School on April 1st, 2023.
Among the highlights of the event are the traditional Aritaku Banti Bhojanam feast and cultural performances by the solely local talent from Seattle. In addition, the event recognized and appreciated women as part of International Women's Day and March is dedicated to women. This event is a confluence of three festivals - Ugadi, Sri Rama Navami, and Women's Day.
Traditional performances were part of the cultural program, which was well received by the audience. Cheers and applause filled the auditorium throughout. Students from WATS Telugu Badi sang a prayer song in conjunction with the songs by Playback Singer Shanti Lasya, as well as performances of the Oscar-winning song Natu Natu performed by local performers.
WATS recognized the accomplishments of past women presidents, spouses of past presidents, as well as the spouses of board members for the year 2023. A number of adult and youth volunteers were also presented with plaques on stage in recognition of their contributions. The event included a fun contest for women from the audience who won gifts and prizes in celebration of International Women's Day.
As part of the event, three new emcees were introduced, Deepika, Ramya, and Himabindu from Seattle, who were emceeing for the first time. WATS also released 2023 Telugu Vani magazine that contained content from Oscar-winning writer Chandra Bose Garu, Movie lyric writers Sira Sri Garu and Hari Ramajogiah Garu, which received much appreciation from the attendees.
Jayapal Reddy, the President along with his board - Sunitha (Vice President), Rajesh (General Secretary), Madhu (Treasurer), Prakash (Cultural Secretary), Ram (Literary Secretary) & Murali (Communications Director of WATS, thanked the sponsors, supporters, and volunteers for making this event a huge success.
Jayapal Reddy stated that the success of the event was made possible by the support and help of food partners Namaste (www.namasthe.us) and Swagath restaurant (www.swagathrestaurant.com), led by Manoj Chintireddy and team; Photography partners Hashtag Photography led by Vivek, Kammakliks led by Subbarayudu; Decoration Partners Seattle Event Planners led by Lavanya and Team, Megaroyal, Royal, Platinum, Diamond, Gold & Silver sponsors, adult and youth volunteers, WATS current board, WATS past leaders, community leaders, donors, members, and non-members.
As the largest event in the history of WATS, the event can rightfully be referred to as the largest of its kind.
