In 2022, the World Zoroastrian Congress (WZC) will return to the United States after 22 years and is expected to attract 1,500 attendees from all over the world, noted a communiqué from the organizers dated January 4, 2021. Scheduled from July 1 to 4, 2022 in New York City, the Congress theme "Bridging the Global Zarathushti Existence” is expected "to resonate with Zoroastrians all over the world… We anticipate that attendees…will bring their unique perspectives and formative influences based on their respective cultures. Our goal is to ensure that we bridge Zarathushtis from across the world, and also bridge age, gender and spiritual differences.
"We look forward to a robust attendance from our global Zarathushti community and are dedicated to developing a program that will be rich in content and appeal to the diversity that we hope will be represented. Our community today is truly global, and represents a diaspora that brings with it its unique challenges,” adds the communiqué.
To be co-hosted by the Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York (ZAGNY) and the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA), erstwhile ZAGNY president Astad Clubwala and current FEZANA president Arzan Wadia will serve as co-chairs of the Congress, with erstwhile FEZANA president Katayun Kapadia as the Congress administrator as also chair of International Relations. The introduction to the two host associations specifies that "ZAGNY and its members are energized to put their passion and focus into bringing Zarathushtis of the world into their backyard to give them a once in a lifetime Congress experience, New York style... FEZANA serves as the coordinating body for 13 Zoroastrian centers, 26 member associations and 15 corresponding groups in USA and Canada.”
Preparing for the Congress at New York Hilton Midtown
To interest all attendees, including teens and children, planning is under way for engaging programs, dynamic cultural events, interesting exhibits, unique marketplace offerings, and sensational entertainment. Keki Dadachanji and Aban Rustomji are co-chairs of the Program Committee. Working alongside will be Khursheed Navder and Mahrukh Motafram, as co-chairs of the Entertainment Committee, Noshir Langrana, Adil Mistry, Meher Bhesania and Yazdi Tantra, as co-chairs of the Awards Committee, Sam Shroff, as Pre and Post Congress Events chair, and Arzan Lali, Information Technology and Web chair.
"As we stand here in 2021 and look forward to 2022 and beyond, we should expect to continue to evolve – demographics, geographies, social media – all of these will influence our global community and continue to pose the questions – Who are we? What do we represent? What will our future be or look like? While abstract, these questions are particularly relevant to us and our future generations. We expect our program content will raise these thought provoking questions and leave attendees with a renewed sense of pride and purpose that we will endure,” note the Congress organizing team.
The venue selected for the Congress is New York Hilton Midtown, a contemporary convention hotel that is a two-minute walk from The Museum of Modern Art and a 10-minute walk from Times Square in Manhattan. Their sleek rooms offer sophisticated decor and custom-designed beds, marble bathrooms, flat-screen TVs and Wi-Fi (on payment of a fee). Executive rooms provide access to a club lounge with free Wi-Fi, breakfast and evening appetizers. Suites have separate sitting areas with additional amenities like access to a casual restaurant serving sandwiches and brick-oven pizzas, a lobby lounge, and a bar offering light fare. The hotel also has a sky-lit fitness center, business center and over 151,000 sq ft of meeting space.
The monetary aspects of the Congress have been entrusted to Gev Nentin and Nina Mistry, co-chairs of the Finance Committee, treasurer Kerman Dukandar, and Fundraising Committee co-chairs Edul Daver, Toos Daruvala and Percis Bansal. Ferzin Patel and Piroja Press have been appointed co-chairs of the Operations and Logistics Committee, with Behroze Clubwala and Nerina Rustomji being made co-chairs of the Zoroastrian Youth Participation Project.