TAGDV held the 18th Annual Telugu Cultural Competitions and Ugadi celebrations in Philadelphia on 30th April, 2011, which turned out to be a great success with attendance of over 1100 people. The competitions for the event such as dance, singing and drama for various age groups were very well represented. 220 talented participants have contested in 78 events, which was a pleasure to watch. Participants as young as 4 years old gave a scintillating performances demanding applause from the audience for all age groups. The representing participants came all the way from upstate New York , Washington D.C., New Jersey and Delaware.

TAGDV President Sailja Adluru presiding over the function invited and felicitated the Guests of Honor, John Fox, former Congressman of US House of Representatives and Diane Morgan, Finance Controller of Montgomery County. President also welcomed Dr. Jana Mallace, a noted community leader. President later welcomed the chief guests for the evening the well-known movie actor Sunil and actress Vimala Raman. The President sincerely expressed her gratitude for the grand patrons and sponsors, Mr. Ramaraju Penmecha, Mr. Venkat Garikapati, Dr. Ramesh Eluri, Dr. Jainder Reddy and all other donors. She expressed awe and gratitude to TAGDV youth committee, volunteers and the executive committee who worked tirelessly throughout the event.

 The primetime event started with an inspirational rendering of the national anthem of The United States of America followed by the national anthem of The Republic of India. The guests of honor Mr. John Fox and Diane Morgan were overwhelmed by the attendance for the event and addressed the audience mentioning the importance of the integration of two different cultures.

The guests of honor distributed prizes to the participants of various event categories.

Masters of ceremony Dr. Bhaskar Sarikonda and Mrs. Srilakshmi welcomed the audience and hosted the succeeding events. About 35 kids performed a ballet that highlighted the importance of Ugadi festival which was an awesome experience to be remembered. Actress Vimala Raman, who herself was an NRI connected well with the audience. She appreciated the efforts made by the parents in maintaining the cultural heritage and passing on the values to the next generations.

The chief guest actor Sunil received a thundering applause from the audience on his arrival onto the stage which was followed by his speech and performance. He performed a small skit which kept the audience in constant laughter and uproar. Upon the request of audience Sunil gracefully accepted to perform a couple of dances which made him very popular in the movies and left the audience spellbound followed by an ovation. TAGDV cultural committee was led by Vice-president Madhavi Reddy and other executive members.

TAGDV Secretary Ravi Potluri delivered the vote of thanks and thanked all the people by naming them who played a major role in the success of the event.

A notable mention for the event was the record breaking attendance of the people for the event and competitions. Audience congratulated Sailaja Adluru for her leadership when she mentioned that was made possible by the outstanding support by the executive committee members Mrs. Padmini Karnam (Jt Secretary), Mrs. Lalitha Rallapalli (Treasurer), Mrs. Shanthi Korutla, Rajkumar Kuppuswamy, Venu Bathini, Sambaiah Kotapati, Bhaskar Sarikonda, Suresh Reddy and Hari Bungatavula.