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The Telugu Association of Greater Greenville celebrated Ugadi, on April 16^th, 2005 in Greenville, South Carolina, to welcome the Telugu New Year (Parthiva Naama Samvatsaram). Celebration of Ugadi at Simpsonville Activity & Senior Center received greater than expected reception with an attendance of around 250 adults and 70 kids.

The evening started off by Mahaganapatham accompanied by the melodious music of the tabala. The traditional 'Ugadi Pachhadi' was served along with delicious Andhara snacks (Mirapakaya Bajji, Masala Vada etc).

The programs were a mixture of classical music, Bharatha Natyam, Tollywood inspired songs, dances, creative skits, and an eyes riveting Kids fancy dress competition with a lot of beautiful traditional costumes that left the audience in awe.

Young and talented choreographers Sai and Divya composed dance for several popular telugu movie songs. Divya herself performed a dance for 'Aa Ante Amalapuram (Arya)' which was applauded by the audience with a request for a repeat performance.

The kids dance items ‘Uttumeeda Koodu (Oke Okkadu)’ choreographed by Smt. Geeta and ‘Tooniga Tooniga (Manasantha Nuvve)’ choreographed by Smt. Jayasri were outstanding.

Ram’s imitation as NTR and kids performance as freedom fighters for the song ‘Punya Bhoomi Naadesam’ from Major Chandrakant, coordinated by Smt. Pavani inspired the guests.

The speech themed Telugu Vaibhavam on telugu culture and history by Sri Bhadraiah was informative for adults and educative for kids. Guests participated enthusiastically in the quiz on Telugu sahityam throughout the evening.

The hilarious skits Evadi Gola Vadide, American Pachadi, and Arachetilo America directed by Sasi, Prasad, and Raju respectively, were well received by the audience.

Adults Jugal Bandhi performed by Dev, Prasad, Ram, and Sai mesmerized the guests of the event.

The Andhra traditional mouth watering food items Gutti Vankaya, Perugu Vada, Sambar, Pulihora, Payasam, Perugu etc. were served during the dinner. The coordination in food ordering and serving by Gandhi, Raju Vatsavai, and Venkat was exceptional.

Sarat’s timely trip to India, enabled to distribute telugu calendar and panchaangam for every family in the community.

Raju and Smt. Bharathi did a wonderful job as Masters of ceremony while Dev and Sai did a fabulous job in stage and audio set up for the program.

Ever since Krishna Vallabhaneni initiated the program, all the committee members Dev Sunkara, Gandhi Undamatla, Prasad Patchipulusu, Prasanth Mote, Raju Jampana, Raju Vatsavai, Ram Garipalli, Ramesh Venepally, Sarat Alapati, Sasi Thammana, Sekar Kappagandtula, Sridhar Yarlagadda, Surya Narra, Vamsi Jarugumilli, Venkat Gullapalli, Venkat Pitchala, Venkatesh Pudipeddi and Krishna himself worked tirelessly to make the event biggest of its kind in the history of Greenville’s Telugu Community.