By George P. Hassett

Ask about diversity in Somerville and you might hear about the city’s established Brazilian, Salvadoran or Haitian communities. Less visible but still thriving is a Punjabi community which worships, gathers and does business in Somerville neighborhoods.

On Friday, local Punjabi culture is celebrated with a festival featuring Indian food, music and film. Utsav! A Festival of Punjabi Culture, organized by the Somerville Arts Council and Somerville Community Access Television, kicks off Friday at 6 p.m.

It spotlights a community sometimes overshadowed in the crush of Somerville diversity, cultural festivals and ethnic restaurants.

Raghbir Singh is a member of the Sikh Sangat Society of Boston, also known as Somerville Gurudwara, opened on Windsor Street in 2005. He estimated that about 500 Punjabi families live in Somerville, many around Union Square and Foss park.

“The number has grown since I first moved here in 2002,” he said.

The Somerville Gurudwara, one of the largest Sikh temples in the state, works on local humanitarian projects such as feeding the homeless, said Satvir Kaur, a member of the temple.

Singh said Somerville is “a very welcoming, nice place” for the Punjabi community. He pointed to the Union Square plaza, where a small group of older Sikh men gather each day to sit, converse and enjoy the square. “The fact they do that shows the situation has improved since the first years after Sept. 11 when there was a lot of ignorance toward us because of our turbans,” he said.

Friday’s festival is a step toward bridging the gaps that remain between communities in Somerville, he said. “It’s our responsibility to communicate what our culture is about,” Singh said. “We’re trying to do that with the festival.”