Today's most viewed
Thousands enjoy the Mela
THOUSANDS of people swarmed to a Southampton park at the weekend to enjoy the city's sixth celebration of global culture at the Mela Festival.
Hoglands Park was transformed into a colourful festival buzzing with diverse musical artists, exhilarating dance acts and mouthwatering food, plus a wide range of family activities celebrating South Asian culture.
Pupils from Brookfield Community School's Bollywood Brass Band kicked off the entertainment at midday, setting the standard for other acts to live up to.
The three stages saw a wide variety of music, including leading Indian classical, folk, world music, qawwali, rap, Asian fusion and bhangra artists during the nine-hour long celebration.
East met west this year when the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra joined forces with leading classical artists Rajeeb Chakraboty on the sarod and Sanju Sahai on tabla.
Other top acts included the Hussain Brothers performing qawwali, the South African Panjazz Project and bhangra artists Silinder Pardesi, Indy Sagu, Saqi and Gi Jatt.
Visitors to the Mela, which means festival in a variety of South Asian languages, also enjoyed a range of music and dance demonstrations, and workshops in the activities tent as well as family arts and crafts, beauty and henna hand tattoos.
And of course, there was the usual amazing selection of Asian food stalls to spice up the Mela Festival.
FOR MORE PICTURES FROM THE MELA SEE TODAY'S DAILY ECHO
8:10am Monday 21st July 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: Wewullywinky on 12:12pm Sun 20 Jul 08
So when are we getting our flower and ballon festival then this year
So when are we getting our flower and ballon festival then this year
Posted by: paul b on 12:27pm Sun 20 Jul 08
[quote][bold]Wewullywinky[/bold] wrote:
So when are we getting our flower and ballon festival then this year[/quote] what a racist comment
Wewullywinky wrote:
So when are we getting our flower and ballon festival then this year
what a racist comment
Posted by: southy, redbridge on 1:18pm Sun 20 Jul 08
Thousands ummm would been hard put by to make 2,000,even lo it was a good show.i enjoyed it
Thousands ummm would been hard put by to make 2,000,even lo it was a good show.i enjoyed it
Posted by: Dixon on 1:33pm Sun 20 Jul 08
Why is this getting more coverage than the 10,000 who took part in Race For Life last Sunday
Why is this getting more coverage than the 10,000 who took part in Race For Life last Sunday
Posted by: southy, redbridge on 2:05pm Sun 20 Jul 08
why dont the echo office organize a salsa festival on the old test park playing feilds,use the west part for car parking and camping,and have the show on the east part,a 3 day event,like what they have in europe,one's in europe can earn millions of pounds in profits.
why dont the echo office organize a salsa festival on the old test park playing feilds,use the west part for car parking and camping,and have the show on the east part,a 3 day event,like what they have in europe,one's in europe can earn millions of pounds in profits.
Posted by: wild bill, millbrook hous est on 4:21pm Sun 20 Jul 08
[quote][bold]southy[/bold] wrote:
why dont the echo office organize a salsa festival on the old test park playing feilds,use the west part for car parking and camping,and have the show on the east part,a 3 day event,like what they have in europe,one's in europe can earn millions of pounds in profits.[/quote] I to think that would be a great idea,so how about it echo.
southy wrote:
why dont the echo office organize a salsa festival on the old test park playing feilds,use the west part for car parking and camping,and have the show on the east part,a 3 day event,like what they have in europe,one's in europe can earn millions of pounds in profits.
I to think that would be a great idea,so how about it echo.
Posted by: Neil, Southampton on 4:25pm Sun 20 Jul 08
Nothing wrong with a British festival after all we do live in England part of the UK, and before you start criticising me I am British of Indian descent born and bred in Southampton for 33 years. Cheers
Nothing wrong with a British festival after all we do live in England part of the UK, and before you start criticising me I am British of Indian descent born and bred in Southampton for 33 years. Cheers
Posted by: southy, redbridge on 6:22pm Sun 20 Jul 08
when have the english ever celebrated st george day or being english/british, most we amount to is put up the st george flag,plus if you look at st george he was not even english but came from france i belive but i not 100% sure,it might of been some else in europe.
when have the english ever celebrated st george day or being english/british, most we amount to is put up the st george flag,plus if you look at st george he was not even english but came from france i belive but i not 100% sure,it might of been some else in europe.
Posted by: Little Englander, This Sceptred Isle on 6:34pm Sun 20 Jul 08
[quote][bold]southy[/bold] wrote:
when have the english ever celebrated st george day or being english/british, most we amount to is put up the st george flag,plus if you look at st george he was not even english but came from france i belive but i not 100% sure,it might of been some else in europe.[/quote] Nice try Southy!
You mean Turkey (or what was then the Byzantine Empire and therefore Greek in cultural make up)
Nowadays if we had to choose a Saint, it would surely be St Chav of Burberry or something?
southy wrote:
when have the english ever celebrated st george day or being english/british, most we amount to is put up the st george flag,plus if you look at st george he was not even english but came from france i belive but i not 100% sure,it might of been some else in europe.
Nice try Southy!
You mean Turkey (or what was then the Byzantine Empire and therefore Greek in cultural make up)
Nowadays if we had to choose a Saint, it would surely be St Chav of Burberry or something?
Posted by: southy, redbridge on 6:39pm Sun 20 Jul 08
lol i like that st chav,
i did know it was not english,just could not remember where,but it has connection with king richards mother
lol i like that st chav,
i did know it was not english,just could not remember where,but it has connection with king richards mother
Posted by: wild bill, millbrook hous est on 7:01pm Sun 20 Jul 08
Oh how I going to enjoy this,King Richard mother was a Mecadonian,And there southy is your connection.
Oh how I going to enjoy this,King Richard mother was a Mecadonian,And there southy is your connection.
Posted by: Big Boy, Hythe on 9:57am Mon 21 Jul 08
I have just taken a straw poll & no-one here feels guilty in the least. There are also strong feelings at this end about being told to feel guilty. Nothing at all to feel guilty about.
I have just taken a straw poll & no-one here feels guilty in the least. There are also strong feelings at this end about being told to feel guilty. Nothing at all to feel guilty about.
Posted by: Bambi on 10:31am Mon 21 Jul 08
"Sort it out" wrote:
[quote]My case in point but i guess coz im white it dont matter then eh!![/quote]
Who said that? Nobody. But because someone called B. Singh dared to reply to you, your racist instincts kicked in and you lashed out once more, and invented a racial slight. I think you need to calm down, you're quite clearly here looking for arguments, but you're just getting yourself wound up over it.
"Sort it out" wrote:
My case in point but i guess coz im white it dont matter then eh!!
Who said that? Nobody. But because someone called B. Singh dared to reply to you, your racist instincts kicked in and you lashed out once more, and invented a racial slight. I think you need to calm down, you're quite clearly here looking for arguments, but you're just getting yourself wound up over it.
Posted by: Mike, Southampton on 12:58pm Mon 21 Jul 08
My gosh! Is there anyway we can enjoy a little culture without having to play the race/xenophobia cards?
I for one am annoyed because I missed this festival due to family commitments, but I have heard that it was a fantastic day, with the sun shining.
Anything like this is good news, because it shows how we can all live together peacefully - especially in today's political climate.
We can all learn a lot from each other and sharing culture in this manner is a good thing.
Do people feel so threatened that they cannot enjoy a fun day in the sun?
My gosh! Is there anyway we can enjoy a little culture without having to play the race/xenophobia cards?
I for one am annoyed because I missed this festival due to family commitments, but I have heard that it was a fantastic day, with the sun shining.
Anything like this is good news, because it shows how we can all live together peacefully - especially in today's political climate.
We can all learn a lot from each other and sharing culture in this manner is a good thing.
Do people feel so threatened that they cannot enjoy a fun day in the sun?
Posted by: southy, redbridge on 2:12pm Mon 21 Jul 08
mike said "My gosh! Is there anyway we can enjoy a little culture without having to play the race/xenophobia cards?" take no notice of them m8 they just narrow minded people
mike said "My gosh! Is there anyway we can enjoy a little culture without having to play the race/xenophobia cards?" take no notice of them m8 they just narrow minded people
Posted by: Lowe and Behold, St Marys hotseat on 3:51pm Mon 21 Jul 08
What a load of racket comeing from the park
:-(
What a load of racket comeing from the park
:-(
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
Play video
