Seattle tech vets buy Boston cricket franchise; Holi lights up Eastside; BAPS marks Ram Navami
Seattle's South Asian community made news on multiple fronts this season — from a landmark sports investment by tech-corridor veterans to vibrant Holi celebrations across western Washington and devotional milestones at BAPS Redmond. The greater Seattle area continues to assert itself as one of the Pacific Northwest's most active South Asian communities.
🏢 Seattle tech veterans acquire Boston cricket franchise
A group of Seattle-area technology veterans has acquired a cricket franchise based in Boston, according to GeekWire, with an explicit goal of developing the sport's talent pipeline in the United States. The investors — veterans of the Pacific Northwest's technology sector, which counts a large South Asian workforce among its ranks — view the acquisition as both a cultural commitment and a commercial bet that American cricket is reaching a genuine inflection point. Cricket carries enormous cultural significance for communities with roots in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, and the Seattle-Eastside corridor is home to a large and cricket-enthusiastic South Asian diaspora. By anchoring franchise ownership in Boston while drawing on Seattle-based professional networks and capital, the investors aim to connect professional cricket infrastructure with the communities that have always sustained the game's American following. The move is emblematic of a broader trend: a generation of South Asian professionals who entered the technology industry as engineers have accumulated the wealth and ambition to reshape American sporting and cultural life at the ownership level, moving from participants to decision-makers in fields they have long loved. [2]
🎉 Holi color festivals bring spring celebrations across Seattle area
Northwest Asian Weekly reported in March 2026 that communities across the Seattle area were scheduled to celebrate Holi — the Hindu festival of colors marking the arrival of spring — with a series of public color festivals featuring music, dance, food, and family activities. The first major event, the Festival of Color, was scheduled for Sunday, March 8, at Redmond City Hall, organized in partnership with the City of Redmond. The festival ran from noon to 5 p.m. and included music, dance performances, food vendors, and the signature Holi tradition of throwing colored powders, leaving celebrants covered in a kaleidoscope of pigments and joy. Admission was free, with advance registration required through ISKCON of Washington for entry and for participation in a raffle drawing. Additional Holi color festivals were scheduled at other venues across western Washington in the weeks following, reflecting how fully the celebration has been embraced by both the South Asian diaspora and the broader regional community. Holi celebrates love, the triumph of good over evil, and the advent of spring, and is typically observed in March across India, Nepal, and the global South Asian diaspora. [4]
🪔 BAPS Redmond marks Swaminarayan Jayanti, Ram Navami, and global exam results
The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha mandir in Redmond, Washington — located at 15440 NE 95th Street and serving as a major spiritual center for the Pacific Northwest's Hindu community — celebrated Shri Swaminarayan Jayanti and Ram Navami in March 2026 with a dedicated women's cultural program honoring the birth anniversaries of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and Bhagwan Ram. The event was described on the BAPS Seattle website as reflecting devotion, unity, and the community's rich spiritual traditions through a vibrant cultural presentation. The mandir's recent news section also highlights the publication of global Satsang Exam and Bal Satsang Exam results for March 2026 — part of BAPS's worldwide program of structured spiritual education that links the Redmond congregation to the global BAPS network. BAPS Redmond draws worshippers from across King and Snohomish counties and maintains a continuous calendar of religious observances and community programs year-round. The center can be reached at +1 (425) 780-7140 and serves as a hub for the region's Gujarati and broader Hindu population seeking both devotional and educational engagement. [1]
🍛 Indian mangoes arrive in the Pacific Northwest
FOX 13 Seattle reported on the arrival of Indian mangoes in the Pacific Northwest this season, covering an annual event that carries particular significance for the region's South Asian community. The broadcast documented the arrival of mangoes imported from India at local stores serving the greater Seattle area, including the Eastside communities that are home to large numbers of Indian and South Asian households. For families with roots on the Subcontinent, the seasonal availability of Indian mango varieties marks a genuinely meaningful moment each year. The varieties associated with India are prized for their richness, sweetness, and distinctive aromatic qualities that differ substantially from the mangoes available year-round at mainstream supermarkets. The import season is typically short, making the arrival of each year's fresh Indian mangoes an occasion in Desi households and at the South Asian grocery stores and specialty markets that stock them across the Seattle-Eastside corridor. For communities in which food carries the weight of cultural memory and intergenerational connection, the return of the Indian mango season is a small but emotionally resonant annual ritual. [3]
Sources: [2] GeekWire · [4] Northwest Asian Weekly · [1] BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha · [3] FOX 13 Seattle