A curry picnic will be held at Hovell Tree Park from 5pm as part of Vindaloo Against Violence Day, an initiative of a Melbourne digital media designer concerned about assaults on members of the Indian community over the past 18 months.

The president of the Australian-Indian Association of Albury-Wodonga, Padma Ayyagari, thinks the event is a fantastic opportunity to show support for the Indians living in, or considering moving to, the Border.

But she emphasised that Border residents had already been quite accepting of the Indian community.

“I know a lot of the Indian community here and I can speak for them — we haven’t experienced any group against group violence here,” she said.

“Personally, we have raised our family here for 22 years and we haven’t been subject to any sort of racism.”

Organiser Olwen Steel hopes the event will celebrate the Indian people’s contributions to Australian culture.

“I think it’s a good moment to focus on some of the really great aspects of the Indian culture that we have adopted — yoga, Bollywood, Gandhi,” she said.

Attendance is by gold coin donation and everyone is encouraged to bring a curry or something else to reheat or cook.