Belfast Mela
Northern Ireland’s Largest Multi-Cultural Festival
Mela is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘to meet'. Belfast Mela is the region’s flagship multi-cultural festival that welcomes all cultures to come together in a fun, friendly and relaxed setting and is an invaluable platform for encouraging mutual respect and diversity.
What is Mela?
The concept of Mela originated in the Indian subcontinent for all sizes of gathering and can be religious, commercial, cultural or sports affair. In rural traditions melas or village fairs were (and in some cases still are) of great importance. This led to their export around the world by south Asian diaspora communities wishing to bring something of that tradition to their new countries.
The Kumbh Mela, held every twelve years, at Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain is one of the largest fairs in India, where over 60 million people gathered in January 2001, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world.
In modern usage outside South Asia it has become a term that shows widespread diversity of interpretation, just as has been the case in South Asia. One can find a Nepalese mela in the USA or a Bengali mela in London. For many it is a wider intercultural (though mainly Asian) festival incorporating music, dance, food and other aspects of mainstream culture. Mela provides opportunities for bridge building and community building and can perform a strong socially cohesive function
Belfast’s Mela
The Belfast Mela was created in 2007. It has since become established as an unmissable highlight in the region’s festival line-up and has rapidly reached status as Northern Ireland’s largest multi-cultural festival, attracting a collective number of 60,000 visitors over four years. Although Melas traditionally have a strong south-Asian focus, ArtsEkta have adopted the concept with a unique multi-cultural focus with the festival promoting a large number of cultures through the arts.
Mela is an artistically led celebration of culture and creativity, inspired by local and international talent and celebrates identity through a unique programme of music, dance, food, circus, visual arts and carnival. Each year the Mela is given a theme which in previous years has included, Bollywood, Health & Well-Being, Caring for our Environment, Asian Fashion and Global Food.
The festival has grown in size with audiences increasing for 5,000 to 25,000 over four years and is endorsed across the community/voluntary, public and private sectors in Northern Ireland