CARMEL — From Diwali to the Chinese Mooncake Festival, Carmel’s calendar is filling up with cultural celebrations that highlight the city’s growing diversity.
“There are 110 languages spoken in our city, and so diversity is already ingrained,” said community member Claudia Escalante. “It just has not been very visual.”
Many of the celebrations are being led by residents who want to share their cultural heritage with neighbors.
“They are events that are brought from the community that lives in Carmel, that wants to share their cultural heritage with their friends and neighbors,” said Dr. Anita Joshi, a Carmel City Council member.
Joshi played a key role in bringing Diwali to Carmel last year. She said her Indian heritage motivated her to help make the festival a community-wide tradition.
“My family is of Indian heritage. And growing up, you know, we didn’t get the opportunity necessarily to celebrate those festivals with the broader community — to celebrate everyone’s heritage was really important to all of us,” Joshi said.
As a city leader, Joshi believes cultural festivals help strengthen connections among residents.
“These kind of celebrations that allow everyone to feel like they have their moment in the sun brings out more and more people to see the beauty of the city that we have created and are proud to live in,” she said.
Just last week, Carmel hosted its first-ever Día de la Familia, a Hispanic heritage celebration. Escalante, one of the organizers, said the event was years in the making.
“For me, it was like a culmination, a celebration of so many years of hard work,” Escalante said.
“We’re just wanting to educate people, just come get to know us. As Latinos, the most treasured value in our lives is our family. So that’s the thing that links us, that’s what brings us together, and that’s what we have to hone in on, what we have in common, and the unity that comes from it,” Escalante added.
Business leaders are also showing support for the city’s cultural festivals.
“Telemon has been headquartered here in Carmel for many, many years,” said Kate Gerig of Telemon Corporation.
“We have such a diverse base of our employees that people are looking for different things, and they want to be able to be in their community to go experience all these different things and learn about different cultures. Over time, we really want to make sure that we are supporting all these events because ultimately it supports all the people who are here inside of our doors.”
Joshi said residents are embracing the growing number of celebrations.
“They’re really just so happy to feel like they know that they have a place in Carmel and their friends and neighbors who may not be part of their community are excited to come and celebrate with them,” she said.
A full list of events can be found on Carmel's community calendar.
