Stalls and Charities

Information for Small Businesses, Charities and Sponsors

We welcome interest from businesses considering the potential benefits of a 'shopfront' visited by 10,000 people over the Mela weekend.  This is a unique opportunity to bring small community businesses together with a varied West Sussex market for mutual benefit.     

Priority is 'first come, first served' although preference may be given to two-day bookings and SMEs.

To apply for a pitch please see the application pack:

There is more detailed information on the Stalls Forum  If you have not registered for the Mela Forums before please follow the instructions to set up your own secure login.

Hire Rates

Hire rates for pitches have changed little since 2004 - many rates are unchanged. See the location sheet for a guide to stall locations.

Rates vary and there are concessionary rates for retail and non-commercial charities.  A rate card is available but please contact the Stalls Team c/o the Hawth (01293-552941), by email to upendra@crawleymela.org, or via the confidential Stalls Forum to find out how we can best support you.  If you have not registered for the Mela Forums previously, please follow the instructions to set up your own secure login.

We remind stall-holders that there are evening activities on Saturday which could make it cost-effective to extend stall opening until 8pm or later.  Full weekend pitch hire includes evening operations.  Note: Do not leave valuable goods overnight.  Overnight security is the stallholder's sole responsibility.   

Charities

We also encourage commercial sponsors to help us improve the quality and diversity of the Mela. Active community support is essential for the stability and future of this valuable and unique event. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the Mela's support from and for local business.

Charities are an essential part of the Mela festival mix. As a not-for-profit community service, we recognize the vital role played by charities and voluntary organisations in making our society a better place to live and grow.

Translating that into action, we offer reduced rates for charitiex of two types. For those with retail arms who wish to fundraise over the weekend, we offer a substantially reduced retail rate. For charities wishing only to bring their service to public attention, we do not make a formal charge for a standard pitch space, but we do ask for a small voluntary donation to cover our own operating costs and loss of revenue from making space available.

To qualify for a charity pitch, you need a registered charities number from the Charities Commissioners, then send an email to upendra@crawleymela.org. (If you have not registered for the Mela Forums before please follow the instructions to set up your own secure login).

In 2006 we are supporting a collaboration among a number of health and wellbeing charities dealing with minority ethnic concerns such as sickle cell, diabetes and heart disease. For more information please ask about the "Health Zone".