Every year, Bandra Fair is hosted on the first Sunday after September 8, which is celebrated as the Nativity of Mother Mary, or the birth of Mother Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and an important entity for the followers of Christianity
This year, it will be held from September 14 to September 21, and will take place across all days around Mount Mary's Basilica and near Mount Carmel Church
While the Novenas were held from September 5 to 13, the feast will be celebrated on Sunday, September 14, followed by the commencement of Bandra Fair around the newly-renovated church
The Bandra Fair is supposed to have started around 300 years ago, according to a popular legend, after statue of Mother Mary was found floating somewhere between 1700 and 1760 in the Arabian Sea by a Koli Christian fisherman, after he already had a dream about it earlier. The locals believed it to be a miracle and that led to the start of the Bandra Fair to celebrate the event every year since then, but in recent years wasn't held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic
Apart from the religious aspect of the feast, which sees many people of other faith also visit, the uniqueness of Bandra Fair is that it has many different kinds food stalls put up by locals every year celebrating East Indian cuisine, and even other Koli delicacies, that have become synonymous with the festival over the years
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