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Threads & Bridges Festival explores Indian American history in Virginia
The two-day festival, held on Aug. 15-16, marked the public debut of a major new oral history project and community-curated exhibition documenting Indian American life throughout Virginia.
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Staff Reporter - Tue, 18, Aug 2026
- 04:54 EDT
- 54
Threads & Bridges Festival / X/Lt. Gov. Hashmi
The Rith Initiative held its inaugural “Threads & Bridges Festival” on Aug. 15-16 at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture (VMHC), bringing together community leaders to explore Indian American identity through interactive sessions, live performances and a new statewide oral history project capturing the lived experiences of immigrants across the Commonwealth.
Held alongside the VMHC’s ongoing exhibition, We the People: The World in Our Commonwealth, the two-day festival, held Aug. 15-16, marked the public debut of a major new oral history project and community-curated exhibition documenting Indian American life throughout Virginia.
At the heart of the festival by The Rith Initiative, a cultural nonprofit that explores and celebrates the Commonwealth’s Indian American community, were 15 interactive stations and booths designed around the central metaphor of a loom to illustrate how diaspora identity evolves across generations.
The installation categorized community members into three distinct roles: The Carriers, first-generation immigrants born and raised in India who brought foundational threads of culture, tradition and identity across oceans; The Weavers, second- and third-generation Indian Americans born or raised on U.S. soil who weave those ancestral threads into the modern American fabric; and The Anchors, family elders whose steadying presence holds the overarching structural framework together through periods of cultural transition.
I was happy to participate on a panel moderated by Professor Niraj Verma from the @VCUWilderSchool, alongside Mayor @DannyAvula; Indian American community leader Neil Bhatt; & managing editor of @TheAtlantic Bhumika Tharoor for The Rith Initiative’s Threads & Bridges Festival. pic.twitter.com/RNeCUTDNku
— Lt. Governor Ghazala Hashmi (@ltgovhashmi) August 17, 2026
The festival also hosted a panel discussion titled “Being Indian American: Its Responsibilities and Possibilities,” where the panelists explored key themes surrounding the Indian American experience, including cultural preservation, community service, serving as bridges between nations and what lies ahead for future diaspora generations.
Moderated by Dr. Niraj Verma of VCU’s Wilder School, the discussion featured Ghazala Hashmi, the 43rd lieutenant governor of Virginia; Danny Avula, mayor of Richmond; Neil Bhatt, president of nbj Architecture; and Bhumika Tharoor, managing editor at The Atlantic.
Lt. Gov. Hashmi said on X, “I was happy to participate on a panel moderated by Professor Niraj Verma from the @VCUWilderSchool, alongside Mayor @DannyAvula; Indian American community leader Neil Bhatt; & managing editor of @TheAtlantic Bhumika Tharoor for The Rith Initiative’s Threads & Bridges Festival.”
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