The Indian Community Outreach organization said it will not host its annual India Day parade and festival in Naperville this year, as the portion of funding for the event approved by the Naperville City Council fell short of organizers’ needs.
Council decided in a 5-4 vote on Tuesday to limit allocation from the Special Events and Community Arts fund to $24,738 to cover city services for the parade only. ICO had originally requested $398,503 in SECA funding for the full event.
ICO CEO says India Day will not proceed in Naperville
Following Tuesday’s meeting, the ICO notified the Naperville mayor and city council members that it would be unable to host India Day in Naperville this year.
ICO Chairman and CEO Krishna Bansal said the group could not host the festival portion of the event in the city without the additional funds it had requested.
“Naperville has come up with their own requirements, the safety requirements, so it makes it more difficult to host it in Naperville, and that is the reason this year, when we went to SECA, we asked for a little more money,” Bansal said. “This year, the expectation was to at least fund the city services, but unfortunately, we were given just a part of the event. We cannot split the event. We cannot just have the parade and not have the other. So, ultimately, there is no way we can continue doing this.”
He noted that total costs for the event exceed $400,000, in addition to the expenses for city services.
A tradition starting in 2015
Naperville’s India Day parade and festival began in 2015. Organizers say it’s considered one of the largest Indian cultural celebrations in the country.
“This was a forward-thinking vision of Mayor (George) Pradel when we started the Indian Community Outreach program, and India Day became a flagship event, and it has brought in a lot of large businesses, but also hundreds of smaller businesses have located here. But other than that, it’s the integration of the Indian American population,” said Bansal.
Bansal acknowledged the city’s partnership in hosting the event, but was discouraged with how the city handled the funding situation.
“We had a very strong partnership, very strong history, but somehow, it’s not been looked at the same as previously. Ultimately, what we see is Naperville’s new leadership does not have an appetite of having such program. They don’t really consider the value of this,” Bansal said. “It is disappointing. It’s sad that this has happened. This is one program that has helped Naperville immensely.”
Initial fund request fully denied by SECA commissioners.
ICO’s initial ask to SECA for a $63,503 grant for city services associated with India Day this year and an additional $335,000 for operations connected to the event was fully denied by SECA commissioners.
Melanie Marcordes, director of community services, said at the Tuesday, April 7 council meeting that commissioners recommended the denial of both requests this year for several reasons.
“They were concerned with the lack of communication. They raised questions relative to the event’s budget and overall financial structure, including the revenue sources, sponsorship commitment and vendor participation,” Marcordes said.
She also said they had some concerns over last year’s event being cancelled.
ICO attributed that cancellation to financial reasons in light of enhanced security protocols.
Bansal said during public comment at the April 7 meeting that “If any further evidence were needed, we have always provided. We are a transparent organization.”
About $1.2 million was available for distribution by the SECA commissioners this year, with 86 grant funding applicants.
ICO appealed to city officials
After this year’s request for funds was denied by SECA commissioners, the ICO appealed to the city council earlier this month for a reversal of the decision.
The council considered various figures at Tuesday’s meeting.
Councilmember Mary Gibson said that though she agreed the event was valuable to the community, she shared concerns about the potential ripple effect the decision to revisit the funding could have.
“I would like this event to stay, but in terms of good governance, I think it sets a dangerous precedent to give individual groups post-decisions to changing the process that we do for individual groups,” Gibson said. “I don’t think that’s equitable to the other members of our community.”
Councilmember Josh McBroom, who had brought the issue forward during new business at the April 7 meeting, said that though he understood the concerns about precedent, he felt the event was worthy of the reconsideration.
“I just elevate this event to a different level,” McBroom said. “SECA does fund and give grants to Indian American groups. This is the biggest one, this is their biggest celebration. This is hugely important to a huge demographic in our community. I don’t want to see another town get this event, and I think there’s a risk of that happening.”
Council ultimately decided to allocate $24,738 to fund city services for just the parade.
India Day to relocate
While Bansal did not share specific details, he said the ICO is already in discussion with other communities to host the parade and festival.
They are hopeful that they will have a new location by next week.
Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli said he was disappointed to hear the organization was cancelling the event in Naperville this year.
“The event has grown each year, bringing more of our community together in celebration of culture and tradition. We are grateful for everything Indian Community Outreach has built here, and we look forward to their plans for 2027,” said Wehrli.
Asked whether India Day will return to Naperville in the future, Bansal said, “I don’t like to say never.”
“ICO activities will happen in Naperville. I’m not saying ICO is moving out, but India Day… people want this event to happen. And so we will be looking at other possible venues, other cities where we can host this.”
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