The Glasgow Mela

AKA - The O2 Glasgow Mela

Melas are south Asian events which have spread around the world from the south Asian subcontinent. Mela means 'gathering' and can describe festival, market, trade event, religious gathering and more. Mela are celebrated with music, dance, theatre, fashion, food and stalls, these are days for the whole family, to join in and embrace south Asian culture. According to the official website

"Nothing compares to the energy, vibrancy and colour of the O₂ Glasgow Mela – shimmering saris, fabulous food, and inspiring music and dance are just some of the sights and sounds of this amazing free entry summer event."

Offical Logo

This event is in the heart of cultures - this is what globalisation has profoundly led to, celebrating and learning about new exciting cultures. The event was originally created in 1990 as part of the European Culture Festival but has now torn away from this, building up to be one of Glasgow's most celebrated cultural events. Now we are going to be hosting this event for the 21st year, where we will see the event expanding  over two days with even more music and entertainment for a diverse group of people. Being brought up with close family friends from India I have been taken here again from a young age. I feel like every year it has expanding - BIGGER & BETTER! But hopefully they will be able to pull off maintaining high standards over these two days. Here is a clip from 2010 which highlights how special this event truely is.

As the event will be celebrating its 21st birthday there will be a fantastic mix of cultural music, dance, interactive arts, food and sports all lined up for the event. The chosen venue this year will be Kelvingrove park as it was last year - I feel in the right weather this is just the perfect venue for entertainment and stalls. Although the acts have not yet been announced keep in with their facebook page for the latest live news feeds.

Feel free to have a peep next week where I will be exploring yet another Festival in Glasgow - who says that Glasgow is a lifeless city would be very wrong!!