Mela comes to Gunnersbury Park

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The sights and sounds of South Asia come to west London

Pakistani rock stars, Bollywood-inspired salsa dance, pyrotechnics and fountains plus six stages of live music, comedy and dance. This year’s London Mela has something for everyone and - best of all - it's free.

The largest South Asian outdoor festival outside the sub-continent, the London Mela is a feast for the senses and brings some of the biggest names in Asian entertainment to west London, as well as commissioning emerging artists and companies to create new work. This year it features 10 zones, six stages and 450 artists spread over 30 acres of Gunnersbury Park.

Now in its fourth year, the London Mela is produced by Ealing Council in partnership with Hounslow Council and is supported by the Mayor of London.

Cllr Nigel Sumner, cabinet member for health and community well being, said, "The London Mela is now firmly established on the summer festival calendar and is a wonderful day out for the family with a diverse range of entertainment, from music and dance to arts and performance. This year’s mela will be full of colour, creativity and no doubt a number of surprises."

The main stage promises to deliver the hottest acts this summer. Headliners include Pakistan’s Atif Aslam, making his first UK appearance, Pascal of Bollywood, a Frenchman who went to Bollywood and came back a singing sensation, and Chirag Pechchan, who will perform with Amarjit Sidhu and Mangal Singh. Other acts include Ajay, Hard Kaur, and Menis Nazza.

Bobby and Nihal from Radio 1 return to host the popular London Flavas stage. Headlining this stage, which presents the best in live British Asian Urban music, will be The Kray Twinz, The Rishi Rich Project, Jag and Sonna Rele.

The classical stage sees pre-20th century music and dance presented in an unique concert hall setting. Headlining this stage will be Habib Sabri and South Asian dance company Akademi will host a programme of classical and folk dance.

With an unique mix of the sassy, experimental and crazy, the cabaret stage has something for everyone - featuring circus artists, comedians, contemporary dance, hip hop, and spoken word. Headliners include the Espirro crew firing it up and D’Archetypes using rap, comedy and multimedia to discuss identity.

For those festival-goers who are young or young at heart there is the Magic Mela stage. This year brings the incredible The Kaleidoscope Project, a collaboration between Grange Park Infant School in Hillingdon and Emergency Exit Arts, which combines interactive workshops with storytelling. Plus there’ll be an opportunity to learn those essential bhangra steps with Jugnu Bhangra.

Illustrating the mela’s commitment to new and emerging talent is its community stage. Regarded as the ‘stepping stone stage’ for showcasing future Mela headliners, this year’s performers include Jay Kumar's Dance Asia, the Angel Dancers, Threebee and Desi Dholi.

With Tabla Blah Blah, the mela is continuing its new commissions influenced by iconic images. This new piece features live performance and soundscapes and is a collaboration between DJ and broadcaster Bobby Friction and London-based Tabla guru, Pandit Sharda Sahai. The piece will be performed by the students of Pandit-ji - the Sangeet Ensemble.

August 11, 2006