Livingston event celebrates food, music of India

Dolly Solomon will share the food of her native India at a Saturday event that’s part of a series featuring immigrant groups in the San Joaquin Valley.

The free gathering at Memorial Park, which also will have music and dance, is called “Indian Kitchen: The Healing Spices and Herbs Outdoor Market.” Solomon will talk about plants used by many East Indian tribes and cultures since the 15th century.

This is the northernmost of the eight events put on this year by the Tamejavi Cultural Organizing Fellowship Program in Fresno, which helps immigrants become leaders in their communities. The first three featured Cambodian and indigenous Mexican traditions. Coming up are presentations on Hmong, Nigerian and Salvadoran cultures.

Solomon was an educator in India for 20 years before moving to the United States. She now works as a teacher assistant in an after-school program.

“I want to help new Indian immigrants exercise their culture and pass their traditions on to the next generation,” Solomon said in a news release. “This program has given me the opportunity to work closely with those in my community to address issues like gender inequality and social isolation.”

The series is sponsored by the Pan-Valley Institute of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization. Other upcoming presentations, all in Fresno:

▪ July 11: “Are you Hmong?,” 5 p.m., Fresno Art Museum, 2233 N. First St.

▪ July 26: “The Resilience of the Nigerian Igbo Tribe,” 5:30 p.m., La Plaza Arte Américas, 1630 Van Ness Ave.

▪ Aug. 8: “Hmong Clothes: Embracing a Timeless Piece,” 6 p.m., Fresno Art Museum

▪ Aug. 22: “Culture and Migration of Salvadorans,” 7 p.m., La Plaza Arte Américas

A grand finale will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Tower Theatre, 815 E. Olive Ave., Fresno.

This story was originally published June 18, 2015 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Livingston event celebrates food, music of India."