BOSTON — Organizers of a Boston celebration of India’s independence have canceled this year’s event because security measures put in place after the Boston Marathon bombings have made it prohibitively expensive.

The annual event that has drawn as many as 20,000 people was scheduled for Sunday on the Esplanade. In a letter posted on the India Association of Greater Boston’s website, organizers say it’s been canceled until a new location can be found. The letter says the association would lose $20,000, “inappropriate for a nonprofit organization.”

New security measures include bag checks at entrances and more police, meaning tens of thousands of dollars in overtime.

A state police spokesman tells The Boston Globe he sympathizes with organizers, but points out that the Esplanade was a possible target of the marathon bombing suspects.


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