Mela Festival
Encyclopedia
Melas are south Asia
n 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.
Melas 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. Melas are distinguished by their bringing together of south Asian cultures and those of other countries when promoted by south Asian Diaspora
s abroad.
The European Mela Network is the networking organisation for melas in Europe
. It seeks to promote mela activities and provide support for mela organisers and initiate new mela developments.
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n 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.
Melas are celebrated with music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
, food and stalls, these are days for the whole family, to join in and embrace south Asian culture. Melas are distinguished by their bringing together of south Asian cultures and those of other countries when promoted by south Asian Diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
s abroad.
The European Mela Network is the networking organisation for melas in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. It seeks to promote mela activities and provide support for mela organisers and initiate new mela developments.
External links
- London Mela
- MELA! Festivals in Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Newcastle Mela (Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, UK) - UK Summer 2006 Mela Guide
- What's On, Mela News, Listings and Mela Festival Information.
- BBC list of UK Melas in 2004
- Mela festival in Oslo, Norway
- European Mela Network