Columbus's Celeste Center at the Ohio Expo Center will fill with music, dance, and the smell of Indian street food this year as the Federation of Asian Indian Association of Central Ohio stages its 28th annual India Festival, running 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Families are welcome throughout the day, with the event built around Indian music, dance, art, food, and community gathering under one roof.
The festival has grown into one of Central Ohio's largest cultural showcases since it began, drawing thousands of visitors from across Ohio and neighboring states, according to the South Asian Herald. This year's edition centers its main stage programming on a “Bharat Showcase,” a segment built around the theme of traditional Indian weddings that spotlights regional customs and performing arts from across India's states, as reported by New India Abroad. Local station myfox28columbus.com reports that musician Prahalyaraksha Sitaram will showcase Indian music as part of the day's programming.
A Hyderabad Rock Band Headlines After Dark
Once the sun goes down, the marquee act takes over: Threeory, a Hyderabad-based progressive rock fusion band formed in 2013 known for blending Indian classical music with global genres, is set to headline after 7 p.m. as part of its U.S. tour, per the same New India Abroad report. The band's current American swing also includes stops in Chicago, Austin, and Denver, giving Columbus a spot on a broader national itinerary rather than a one-off local booking.
The festival is hosted by the Federation of Indian Associations, which works to bring people together and celebrate Indian heritage, according to myfox28columbus.com. That mission traces back decades: the Federation of Asian Indian Association of Central Ohio was established in 1983 as an all-volunteer nonprofit umbrella organization meant to unite local Indian associations and coordinate cultural and social activities, per the article notes from Arts in Ohio.
New Program Invites Non-Indian Neighbors In Free
Organizers are also testing a new outreach effort this year called the Cultural Ambassador initiative, which encourages members of the Indian diaspora to invite a non-Asian Indian neighbor, colleague, or friend to attend the festival at no charge. The South Asian Herald describes it as a deliberate push to broaden cross-cultural engagement beyond South Asian residents in Franklin County. Advance tickets for everyone else run $10, a discount off the $15 regular gate price, and children age 5 and under get in free, according to Federation of Indian Associations - FIA Ohio ticketing information.
The event takes place inside the Celeste Center, a 60,000-square-foot air-conditioned indoor arena on the 360-acre state fairgrounds campus north of downtown Columbus. Named after former Ohio Governor Richard F. Celeste, the venue can seat up to 10,200 people, according to the Ohio Expo Center. That scale matters in a region where the Asian Indian population has grown substantially: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates put roughly 39,025 Asian Indians living in the Greater Columbus Metropolitan Area as of 2021, per data compiled by UPG North America, with Hindi cited as a primary home language for nearly a third of that population.
Public Arts Funding Backs the Festival's Growth
The festival also draws on public arts funding each year. The Greater Columbus Arts Council awarded $9,250 in Project Support funding to the Federation of Asian Indian Association of Central Ohio for the 2026 festival, following larger grants of $13,500 in 2025 and $10,000 in 2024. Myfox28columbus.com notes that the Arts Council supports opportunities such as the India Festival as part of its broader mission to strengthen Central Ohio's arts community, with columbusmakesart.com listing it among upcoming events supporting the arts of Central Ohio.
Columbus holds the largest Asian population of any city in Ohio, and 60% of the state's total Asian American population identifies as Asian Indian, Chinese, or Filipino, based on 2021 Census data analyzed by the Center for Community Solutions. Ohio is home to more than 344,000 Asian or Asian American residents statewide, a demographic backdrop that helps explain why an event like the India Festival has found room to expand year after year inside one of the state's largest indoor arenas.
