India Day organizers will move their annual parade and fest to another town after the Naperville City Council only approved a fraction of the group’s funding request, Indian Community Outreach Chairman and CEO Krishna Bansal said.
The Naperville City Council’s 5-4 vote Tuesday night to provide just part of the funding requested by the nonprofit for the event — believed to be one of the largest celebrations of Indian culture in the country — but it was not enough after the city initially provided no money at all, Bansal said.
“People felt very humiliated, frustrated because we are all volunteers,” he said. “We have done everything to build this. We didn’t need to do it. We just did it because this has helped Naperville immensely to come on the world map.”
Organizers have been in talks with multiple municipalities interested in hosting the event, Bansal said, and he expects they will announce a new location in the coming weeks. He declined to disclose what towns are being considered but said the full event will take place this year.
Typically, the Indian Community Outreach receives financial support through the city’s Special Events and Community Arts (SECA) Commission. However, their request for $398,503 was rejected this year because the organization did not provide enough information on how it would be spent, city officials said.
“That number was a huge ask since SECA only had $1.2 million total (to distribute) … that number was more than a third of our total funding ability. And giving one organization a number close to that was very unlikely,” SECA Commission Chair Judith Brodhead said Tuesday, noting they received more than 80 funding applications this year.
Commission members were also concerned the event might not be held because it was canceled last year due to tightened security requirements.
Some commissioners said they attempted to contact Indian Community Outreach to obtain more information but received no response. Outreach representatives said they were never contacted.
“When (Indian Community Outreach) applied again in the 2026 cycle, there were multiple opportunities to address the situation and offer remediation for the challenges it faced within the application … those opportunities were not taken,” SECA Commissioner Rachna Prasad said. “Given the organization’s long history of receiving taxpayer-funded support, the lack of engagement is very concerning.”
As part of the approval process, applicants are invited to attend an optional Saturday workshop where they can explain their event in more detail and answer commissioner questions. Indian Community Outreach Treasurer Viral Shah said Tuesday that the group traditionally has not gone to the Saturday meeting because the event is well known in Naperville.
Council members acknowledged India Day’s history and value to the city and broader community, but had mixed opinions on just how much money should be provided.
“I would like this event to stay, but I think in terms of good governance I think it sets a dangerous precedent to give individual groups (the ability to appeal once a decision has been made) … I don’t think that’s equitable to the other members of our community.” Councilwoman Mary Gibson said.
Councilman Josh McBroom recognized the precedent, but said he believed the event was too important for Naperville not to fund it.
“SECA does fund and give grants to Indian American groups. This is the biggest one. This is their biggest celebration. This is hugely important to a huge demographic in our community. I don’t want to see another town get this event,” said McBroom, who advocated giving them “the allocation that they would have gotten last year.”
The council considered a number of funding options ranging from no money to $89,963 before settling on $24,738 — the amount that would cover the cost of services for just the parade.
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Shah balked at that amount after the meeting, saying, “This is not zero, but this is as good as zero. … We can’t break the event up.”
Mayor Scott Wehrli said he was disappointed by the organization’s decision to cancel the event in Naperville.
“It’s been one of the largest Indian American celebrations in the area, if not part of this country, but I’m hopeful that (Indian Community Outreach) will be able to work together with the city and reapply with the SECA Commission for 2027 and that we can hopefully keep the tradition alive.”
Bansal was noncommital when asked if the event might return to Naperville in the future.
“I think we achieved our goal in Naperville so the event has grown and the event is not just limited to Naperville at this point,” he said. “… We are convinced that we should do it, it should continue. It is something that is going to be for the greater good of all the communities.”