CALIFORNIA: Pakistani singer and composer Ali Sethi and Indian singer and actor Diljit Singh Dosanjh will perform during the ongoing “Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival” in Indio, California.
Coachella 2023 has officially kicked off as thousands of festival goers were packing their bags, heading to witness and experience the three days of non-stop fun.
South Asian music enthusiasts were also heading to Coachella this year as it offers huge attractions for the community living in California, Texas and other US states.
Dosanjh and Ali Sethi will perform alongside international singers and bands such as BLACKPINK, Kid Laroi, Charli XCX, Labrinth, Jai Wolf, Joy Crookes, Jai Paul, Frank Ocean, and Underworld, according to CNN.
Sethi’s Pasoori was the most searched-for song on Google in 2022. Pasoor, the sensational Punjabi song sung by Sethi and Shae Gill, beat all other Pakistani songs released in 2022.
Dosanjh, who is well-known throughout the Indian diaspora, will be the festival’s first Punjabi language performer.
Last year, singers Raveena Aurora and Arooj Aftab performed at the festival but the high profiles of this year’s performances make it a huge moment for fans. South Asian singers and actors routinely perform in North American venues packed with their followers. Radhika Kalra has seen Dosanjh perform numerous times in the United States and Canada, but she said she “can’t miss him on such a huge stage.”
Immigrant parents of second-generation South Asians are encouraging their children to enjoy music with roots in their ethnicity.
Sarina Singh, a “huge Diljit fan,” felt uncertain about attending Coachella with her husband Simranjeet Singh Bedi because she is seven months pregnant. Her mother opted to fly from Pennsylvania to Colorado to care for the couple’s two-year-old daughter, giving them ‘their baby moon’ a little vacation before their baby arrived. Sarina Singh claims that her mother advised them to celebrate.
She said she never wanted to go to Coachella, but she is going for Diljit.
At Coachella, music and fashion go hand in hand. Fans who listen to Dosanjh and Sethi are getting dressed up. Kalra plans to wear an anodized silver necklace with coins from India over a white crop top and jean shorts for a “typical Coachella boho look.” Garima Singh claims she had her nails done in a henna pattern to match her Indo-western outfit.
As fans accessorize their outfits, they are aware of the cultural appropriation associated with American festivals, such as the use of South Asian henna tattoos and bindis. Fans believe it has sparked a discussion about how young South Asians may reclaim their culture by attending the festival.
