Aug. 19, 1999

The Buehler YMCA in Palatine is a long way from Punjab, a region that includes northwest India and eastern Pakistan, but hundreds of Punjabi-Americans will gather Saturday on the YMCA grounds to play games and celebrate their heritage during the fifth annual Punjabi Sports Festival.

The Palatine-based Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago and community group Vision in Progress are sponsoring the festival that includes basketball, soccer, volleyball, bhangra aerobics and kabaddi.

“Kabaddi is kind of a wrestling thing, but there are eight men on each team,” explained Mohinderjit S. Saini, who is both senior vice president of the Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago and chairman of the Vision in Progress Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Committee. “There will be teams from Toronto, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and Chicago. That’s the highlight of the day.”

Another crowd pleaser will be a popular Punjabi singer who like Cher and Madonna only is known by one name. Ramta, who lives in Toronto, will perform throughout the day.

An estimated 6,000 people of Punjabi descent live in the Chicago area. More than 500 attended last year’s festival, which was held at the Palatine Community Center.

Festival organizers are hoping to attract an even larger crowd with the appearance of Ramta and the kabaddi teams from other states. This year’s festival will be the first in which teams from outside the area will participate.

The festival is open to the public and includes complimentary Punjabi food. Participation in athletic events is limited because some events are finals of earlier competitions held throughout the area.

Some activities will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday. The opening ceremony, however, will be held at 10:30 a.m. The festival ends at 6 p.m.

For more festival information, call (847) 359-5727