Nine colourful floats depicting various facets of India's rich cultural life were the main attraction of the annual celebrations.

When the dance and music sequence began on the stage, it was all fast-paced Bollywood numbers interspersed with brief Indian classical dance performances.

Toronto city seemed to sway when the loudspeakers blared 'Jai ho' repeatedly from the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.

However, it was the Punjabi singing husband-wife duo of Sardool Sikander and Amar Noori who set Dundas Square in fire with their high-voltage performance.

Away from the stage, a mini-India had come up on the grounds of Dundas Square - the equivalent of Times Square in New York.

Six Indian cuisine huts and 20-odd make-shift shops had a busy time as people bought anything from saris to jewellery.

But what rankled the organizers was the last-minute withdrawal by Punjabi music star and Padmashri Hans Raj Hans.

A source told IANS: 'Hans Raj Hans had accepted our air ticket to travel to Canada. But he backed out at the last minute under pressure from some elements in Canada, though he told us that his wife was not well.'