16/03/2026
Dear Friends,
What a wonderful day it was celebrating Holi together in Belgium- 15/03/2026
As a young organisation, only two years since its founding, it was truly heart-warming for all of us at BICA to see such an incredible turnout. Members and friends travelled from Gent, Brussels, Antwerp, Oostende , Leuven and many other parts of Belgium, which made the event feel like a true gathering of our wider community.
We were especially honoured to welcome our chief guest, Mr. Santosh Kedia from Diamond Creations nv, who very kindly joined us and addressed the gathering. His encouraging words and support meant a lot to us and gave great motivation to a young organisation like BICA. We look forward to working together with him on future initiatives for the community.
We were also delighted to have Mr. Chiraag Shah from Anita Diamonds with us. He shared a lovely idea about creating a community WhatsApp group where members can stay connected, share requests, and support one another. The spirit of helping each other and building stronger connections is exactly what BICA stands for.
The program began around 12:30 pm, with guests gradually arriving from noon onwards. Our senior member Mr. Yash Chawla warmly opened the celebration with an enthusiastic “Happy Holi!” which set the perfect tone for the day.
This was followed by:
• A welcome address by our President, Rakesh Kapila
• A presentation by our Secretary, Mr. Sourav Nandi, about the vision and goals of BICA
• Our Vice President, Mr. Vivek Dhawan, explaining the benefits of membership and community engagement
One of the most encouraging aspects of the event was seeing so many new faces. More than 60% of the attendees were new participants, showing the growing interest in our association and the strength of our community.
After the introductions, everyone enjoyed a delicious spread of snacks and refreshments, including pav bhaji, samosas, potato vada, veg pulao with yogurt, rasgullas, cookies, cakes, tea, coffee and drinks. The atmosphere was relaxed and festive, and it was wonderful to see people reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones.
Soon after, our DJ lifted the energy and the dance floor came alive. Eventually, the celebration moved outside for the Holi colours, where families, elders, parents, children and friends all joined together in the joyful spirit of the festival.
Holi reminds us of something very beautiful — once the colours are on us, all differences disappear and we are simply one community. It was truly special to see people from different backgrounds coming together like one big family, celebrating far away from home.
Later in the afternoon, we had a fun round of Tombola, where several lucky participants won lovely prizes — a perfect and cheerful way to close the event.
The celebration ran from 12:30 pm until around 5:30 pm, and we would also like to give a big thank you to all the BICA members and volunteers who arrived early to help set everything up and stayed afterwards to ensure the venue was completely cleaned and organised.
Organising an event like this is always a team effort, where many members contribute their time and energy. At the same time, every event needs someone to take the lead and help bring everything together. For this celebration, we would like to give a special thank you to our very active member, Mrs. Sheetal Chawla, who took the lead in organising the event and did a fantastic job.
Her enthusiasm, dedication, and energy were instrumental in making the day such a success. Well done, Sheetal — and we truly hope to see more members bringing the same spirit and energy to future events.
As always, BICA belongs to all of you. If you would like to become more actively involved in the association or help organise future initiatives, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are planning many more activities across different interests and communities.
Your feedback is always welcome — it will help us make future events even better.
We are attaching a few photographs from the day so that everyone can relive the moments — and for those who couldn’t join us this time, here’s a small glimpse of the celebrations.
Together, we hope to build one of the most vibrant and supportive community associations in Belgium, and that can only happen with everyone’s participation.
Thank you all once again for making the day so special.
Best wishes,
Rakesh Kapila
President on behalf of TEAM BICA🇧🇪👍🇮🇳
