For those of you not already familiar with the Belfast Mela, you’ll find a riot of colour and sound alongside an electric atmosphere throughout Belfast’s Botanic Gardens at this cultural celebration each year. On the 30th August 2015, ArtsEkta are bringing Northern Ireland’s largest multi-cultural festival back for another year in a ‘celebration of culture and creativity, inspired by local and international talent…through a unique programme of music, dance, food and visual arts.’

Belfast Mela

Having grown from 5,000 to 30,000 visitors over the past five years, this promises to be the biggest and best Belfast Mela yet, with highlights which include The Dhol Foundation and their 16ft drumming puppet; The Ladies of Midnight Blue who fuse Afro-Caribbean, Latin percussion, Jazz, Afro-beat, Dunk and Reggae; The Garden of Live Flowers, an Alice In Wonderland inspired circus-style show; and Ankhile, some of the UK’s best Punjabi dancers. Think that sounds good? That’s not even the half of it, you can have a wee gander at the full line-up if you click here.

Alongside this top-class global entertainment, you can also enjoy the World Food Market, the Global Souk filled with arts and crafts, relax with the World of Wellbeing or even get your little-ones involved with Little Bollywood. For more information and up-to-date news visit the Belfast Mela website here.

Laura Caldwell

Author: Laura Caldwell

Hi, I'm Laura. I'm 30 years old and have a degree in Journalism with Photo-Imaging at the University of Ulster. I have an undying love for Belfast and all that it has to offer, an undying love for sleeping, Tegan and Sara, trashy tv shows, foreign snack-foods and being irresponsible with money. I also quite like origami, reading, jazz, hip-hop, dubstep, anything acoustic and Food Network TV. I've written for The Big List, Culture NI, Chatterbox and The Echo, as well as writing for BBC Across the Line.