Naperville Hosts Inaugural Swadeshi Mela Indian American Trade Fair

Donate Today Buy This Video

Naperville hosted its inaugural Swadeshi Mela Indian American Trade Fair this past weekend, a three-day event with vendors showcasing products from India for the public to purchase. The fair also incorporated Indian culture with food, dance, and music for all to enjoy. It was organized by the Dtribals Foundation, a U.S. nonprofit focused on promoting tribal products and handcrafts, according to its website.

What does “Swadeshi” mean?

“So Swadeshi Mela is an American Indian art fair where we are actually promoting handloom and handicrafts locally made in India. So, Swadeshi is from India. Those are the hand of craft and handloom, which is made in India and then we are actually giving them a platform to promote or showcase their product in the US market and also promote the Indian culture,” said Executive Member of the Dtribals Foundation Nagesh Rai.

The inaugural event showed a strong turnout from the community.

“Yesterday, we have 5,000 plus, and today also we are expecting we already have, I guess, 2,000 people right now in this event, so we are expecting close to 15 to 20,000 in three days,” said Dtribals Foundation Founder and President Deepali Saraogi.

The Indian term “Swadeshi” means products produced within the country. . The Indian American Trade Fair had plenty of those to see, with more than 20 of the 50-plus vendors at the event coming from across India to sell their goods and services.

The purpose of the Indian American Trade Fair

“Our main aim was to promote their product in the U.S. land. So we started with that vision, but again, we widened our vision to bring all the Indian product in one community so that a lot of people can be benefited. But that’s why we named it Indian American Trade Fair because we want [the] Indian community and the American community to come and see the uniqueness of India and buy their products. We are also promoting all the small-scale business, women-owned business, and small exporters who want to launch their product in the U.S. land or the international land,” said Saraogi.

The vast array of products and performance fit perfectly with the Dtribals Foundation’s mission to help support the artists and vendors, while educating the public about all the different culture India has to share.

“All the estates of India they are showcasing their unique, unique diversity of Indian culture and our heritage, so that is a very unique part. We want to promote these people because these people, you know, they are very talented, but they don’t get that much opportunities. So we want to provide these support opportunities to these really great talented people,” said Dtribals Foundation Executive Member Aparna Rai.

The Dtribals Foundation intends to hold the Indian American Business Fair annually. For more information, visit their website https://dtribalsfoundation.org/home

If you have a story idea, we want to hear from you!