surat republic day celebration organised jointly by ngo bharat bharati and surat municipal corporation smc received a huge response in the city for the first time migrants from 22 different states residing in the city participated in the grand colourful parade of floats showcasing their culture with themes varying from industrial progress to national heritage and from traditional arts to legendary personalities the floats of different states were flagged off by commissioner of police shivanand jha and vnsgu vicechancellor b a prajapati from smc party plot at athwalines the participants in the floats marched on the roads in their traditional outfits depicting the culture of their own states and passed through athwalines majura gate and ghod dod road in the evening a grand cultural show and a national food festival with delicacies from different states were organised at smc party plot at athwalines it was a huge gettogether of surtis more than 20000 people visited the food stalls said subas gantayat convenor of bharat bharati and vicepresident hr of abg shipyard subhash dhavan president of bharat bharati said it was the first time that we have celebrated republic day on such a grand scale the floats and national food festival drew a huge crowd