Bhangra dancers from around the country and from Canada will compete at Binghamton University this weekend in “Bhangra Fever II.”

According to Prerna Soni, the president of Binghamton Bhangra, Bhangra is a traditional folk dance from northern India. Binghamton Bhangra was established in 2006 and currently has 18 active dancers and two additional members.

Eight teams will vie for $2,300 on Saturday in the Osterhout Concert Theater in the Anderson Center. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show begins at 6 p.m.

This is the second annual “Bhangra Fever” event that Binghamton Bhangra has hosted. Last year’s event brought in over 400 people, and this year’s event is expected to be even bigger, Soni said.

“We were really happy with our success last year,” Soni said. “We got really good feedback with the Bhangra community and word must have spread that it was a good competition.”

Due to the larger applicant pool, Soni said they were able to be more selective in who they chose to compete in this year’s competition. While only 15 teams applied last year, there were almost 40 applications this year. Out of the 40 applicants, 8 groups were chosen to compete.

The competing teams are: Anakh-E-Gabroo (New York, N.Y.), CMU Chak De (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Cornell Bhangra (Ithaca, N.Y.), George Washington Bhangra (Washington, D.C.), Joshiley Jawan (D.C. Metropolitan Area), Rochester Bhangra (Rochester, N.Y.), Shaan Mutiyaaran Di Bhangra Club (New York, N.Y.) and VT Bhangra (Blacksburg, Va.).

According to the Parth Patel, the vice president of Binghamton Bhangra, the larger applicant pool has really increased the standards of this year’s competition.

“We’re going to blow last year’s event out of the water,” Patel said.

Each team applying to enter the competition submitted a video to be judged by BU Bhangra.

“We judged them based on their entertainment factor and how good they looked in their video,” Soni said. “While judging the videos, we were really thinking about how much fun we thought our audience would have watching each group.”

The competition is different from most other Bhangra competitions because it is being run by a Bhangra team. Competitions are usually run by private organizations, such as university associations or committees that are made for the sole purpose of running a competition.

Soni said that BU’s team can provide a new insight to the competition due to their background in competing and hosting competitions.

“The teams that came last year were impressed by how much we genuinely cared about their happiness, and that’s something we’re very keen on maintaining this year,” Soni said.

Patel agreed that the team learned a lot from last year’s event and has higher expectations for this year.

Although they performed at last year’s event, Binghamton Bhangra will not be performing or competing at this year’s event.

“We’re not the main priority,” Soni said. “The main priority of this event is to make sure the teams and the audience enjoys their time.”

Tickets are currently on sale for $8 in advance or $10 at the door. Binghamton Bhangra will be tabling in the New University Union on Wednesday and Thursday. Arrangements to buy tickets can be made by emailing bhangrafevercompetition@gmail.com.