This year Ganeshotsav celebration started on Wed. 7th September. Mr Kumar
Talpade started sculpting the small murti and the decorations fews weeks
before. On the first day the ³Pratisthapana Pooja² was carried out by Mr and
Mrs Satchid & Viju Kale. In the evening in spite of a week day there was a
large amount of Bhaktaganas who attended Ganesha's Darshan. The event was filmed by Zee TV and South Asia News. A radio interview was given by the President on BBC Asian network in Gujarati.

On Thursday 08/09 local Bhajani Mandal artists gave a vocal performance. Mrs Sheela Kothare, Mrs Shubha Athalye, Mrs Sadhana Paigankar, Mrs Asha Nawathe and Mrs Kumud Apte presented Ganesh vandana and were accompanied by Mr Kothare on tabla and Mr Baal Athalye on harmonium. Audience responded very positively to the first cultural programme of this year's festival.

On Friday 09/09 everyone was eagerly awaiting for popular programme 'Antakshari'. This year it was hosted by Mr. Sameer Shirwadkar and Mrs. Viju Kale. Overall there were 9 pairs who competed against each other in 3 rounds. The winning pair of each round then met in finals. The finals were won by Mrs. Shilpa Chakrapani and Mrs. Nalini Kulkarni. The audience thoroughly enjoyed this programme.

Saturday 10/09 was another popular programme 'Baal Darbaar'. The performances included dances, songs, story telling, instrument playing etc. It was really heart warming to see the tiny tots performing on the stage. This event went on till midnight and surprisingly none of our small friends showed any signs of weariness so late in the evening. The event was filmed by MATV National.

On Sunday 11/09 Atharvashirsh sahasthravartan was performed by everyone present in the premises. This was followed by Mahaprasad. Local artists Mangesh Gosavi, Prasad Shirgaonkar, Hrishikesh Kardile, Mr Kothare and Sameer Shirwadkar presented a program called 'Anadacha Gaav'­ this comprised a combination of songs and poems presented for the audience. The long day ended with Aarti in the evening.

Monday 12/09 was an orchestra of Hindi and Marathi songs performed by 'Awaaz Promotions'. The singers performed various popular Marathi and Hindi songs from latest and yesteryears bollywood movies. This programme was sponsored by Mrs Anuradha Dorlikar.

Tuesday 13/09 the audiences were treated with some magical moments from semi classical music. The performer of the evening was Mr. Sanjiv Chimmulgi, a disciple of late Shri C R Vyas. He was accompanied by Mr Shrirang Athalye on tabla and Mr Deodhar on harmonium. The audience thoroughly enjoyed his performance and wished it could continue until late.

On Wednesday 14/09 the young Swadhyay parivaar from East London performed a short street play in front of a large audience. The play which conveyed a clear message of peace was enjoyed by everyone.

On Thursday 15/09 members had a good opportunity to attend a talk on
Rajyoga, Ganesh, Self Realisation and practice some meditation.

On Friday 16/09, in front of an audience of around 300, local artists
performed a vocal programme called 'Gandharva kadun Shadajakade'- this
comprised of ever-green melodious songs beautifully presented by a skillful
team of local artists. Mr Shrikant Pattalwar and Mrs Varsha Halbe were the
lead vocalists, accompanied by Mr Atre on harmonium and Mr Kothare on tabla. Mrs Mukta Atre was the presenter for the evening.

On the last day Chair of Trustees and the President thanked all volunteers who helped with this joyous occasion. Overall 10 days were filled with excitement and packed with programmes which were highly appreciated by the audience. Delicious Prasad was served nearly every day. It was also noted that the 'Bahaktagans' were not only limited to Maharashtrian community.