The Indo-Canadian community is about a quarter of the way to their goal of gathering money for a community centre in Halifax — and an annual fundraiser this weekend is expected to add to the fund.

The sixth annual India Fest celebration is underway at the Halifax Forum, Aug. 12-14.

'We have lots of food'

Two girls perform a dance, while the Indian flag decorates the stage. (Shaina Luck/CBC)

"It's going very good," said Madhu Sinha, the India Fest treasurer Saturday. "I want everybody to have fun here — we have lots of cultural booths and we have lots of food."

Sinha said about 3,000 people are expected to visit over the three days of the festival. Money raised from the event will go towards a new community centre.

"We really need a community centre. Because we have cultural programs — people have to learn somewhere," Sinha said.

"There's lots of immigrants coming from India. They need a place. We have lots of retired people, they want to volunteer and teach them."

Choosing a location

A henna artist puts a tattoo on a woman's arm during Indiafest. (Shaina Luck/CBC)

About $250,000 to go toward the community centre has been raised. At one time the community wanted to build in the Bayers Lake Business Park, but that location turned out to be too difficult to level. They decided to look elsewhere, said Dinesh Sinha, a past president of India Fest.

"Now we are looking for the land, and once we find the land, construction will start," he said. "It will take more than a million dollars to build it, so it will take some time but it is well under progress."