The World Gujarati Federation (WGF) is organizing the World Gujarati Festival in Ahmedabad from January 6 to 8, 2024. The WGF is an organization dedicated to Gujaratis living abroad. It was founded in 2013 by Ramesh Tanna, a well-known writer, journalist, and social activist.
On January 6, from 9. 30 am to 12.30 pm, a welcome ceremony will be held at the JB Auditorium, AMA (next to Atira, Ahmedabad) for Gujarati societies and important organizations and individuals from all over the world. The dignitaries present during the ceremony will be - Bhagwat Shastriji Rishi (Bhagvat Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad), Jagdish Vishwakarma (Minister of Gujarat), Pratibhaben Jain, Mayor, Ahmedabad City, Padma Shri Jorawarsinh Jadav (Folk Artist) Uday Mahurkar (Founder, Save Culture, Save India, Movement), R.P. Patel (President, Vishwa Umiya Dham), Satish Vithalani (President, Shri Lohanas Mahaparisad) and Umang Thakkar (Former President, Shri Gujarat Lohanas Samaj). On this occasion, the inauguration of a new organization, NRI Parents Family (NRI-PF), will be held.
On January 7, the winners of the story writing competition organized by Mamta (periodical) will be awarded prizes. The special guests will be Madhu Rai and the program will be presided over by Asit Modi (Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma fame).
On January 8, two important conferences will be held. In the morning session, a conference on Gujarati journalism abroad will be held. The speakers will include: C.B. Patel (Editor, Gujarat Samachar-London), Kishor Desai (Founder Editor, Gurjari-America), Subhash Shah (Founder Editor, Gujarat Darpan-America), Nilesh Dave (Editor, Mumbai Samachar), Manish Mehta (Editor, Divya Bhaskar)
On the same day, at 2 pm, a conference on Gujarati communities abroad will be held at the meeting hall of the History Department of Gujarat University. The speakers will include: Keynote speaker: Dr. Nirja Gupta, (Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat University), Makarand Mehta, (Historian) (On the topic of Gujarati diaspora in East Africa and Britain), Shirin Shukla, (Historian) (On the topic of Parsi diaspora in Britain), Manilal H. Patel, (Literary critic) (On the topic of diaspora in America), Ramesh Tanna (On the topic of research and documentation of Gujarati diaspora) and Daksh Rana, researcher (On the topic of the experience of researching Gujarati diaspora)
The organization will prepare a five-year project to document the diaspora in five continents in a systematic and scientific way.