Crawley International Mela 2009
Some Like it Hot!  Samba & Bhangra
Sunday July 5 from West Green Park to Memorial Gardens

July 25-26, at The Hawth, Crawley

Crawley Mela Association
 
Back again, bigger, better and more international than ever, Mela Festival 2009 offers a full weekend of family fun and activity with something for everyone.  But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The new Committee (shown below) is planning not only the traditional Mela Festival but also a range of community services around the year, including:

• Bigger Multifaith Parade on Sunday June 5 featuring the return of the fabulous Bloco Fogo Samba street band and a route through the town centre from West Green to Memorial Gardens.

• More Same Sky Artist Residencies in local schools

• More School and Community Outreach visits from multicultural artists - see the Outreach page for a current listing.

• Sports for all ages - Kabadi, kite flying, martial arts, Chi Gong, a new Crawley Open Volleyball league!

• Youth Events with Crawley Vision In Youth Collective - a special July 24th Friday evening gig featuring massive Bhangra artist Sukshinder Shinda with a nine-piece band at an unmissable price.

• More Festival content - Quavali, bhangra, bollywood, Samba, Afro-caribbean and much more.

• A A special event on Sunday July 6th that we're keeping secret.  We can reveal that this will involve everyone and features a major new piece from FIPA together with exciting new original choreography from the creative hands of dance guru Champah Shah.

• A free outdoor concert by popular demand, Singh is King is back for three hours of addictive bhangra and bollywood on Saturday July 25th from 7pm.

2008/9 Mela Executive Committee: Hazel Ellis, Cllr. Jim Smith, Hash Mulji, Rick Heybroek, Sajida Irshad, Roger Fox, Upendra Sharma, Sarah Lee, Deven Patel, Raj Amin.  Not shown: Cllr. Brenda Smith (photographer)

For families we have the highly popular Community Stage

With a full parallel programme including Hindu dance, Irish dance, African fashions, magic, music and more. Look around and you'll find other workshops both outside and inside the Hawth, including Tiger Crane Shaolin Chi Gong, health and well-being workshops for adults.

And when it finally all gets too hot and noisy, there's a Chill-out Zone with classical sitar and tabla players doing gazaals, ragas and other favourites in the Hawth lobby.

Once again, the Mela Committee have put together a glowing tribute to multi-cultural Crawley, based on the efforts of a small army of hard-working volunteers from our Hindu, Afro-Caribbean, Buddhist and Islamic communities, and delivered with no entrance charge, in keeping with our ancient Mela tradition of respect for all human life.

Mela 2009 - Samba and Bhangra

Join us for three days of enjoyment for the whole family, with more to do and see than ever.

Keep in Touch with New Mela Forums

If you're looking for information or want to ask questions or share views with other Mela fanatics, we've launched easy-to-use web forums covering everything from Stall hire to Children's workshops. All you need to do is register your name and email address, and you're up and running.