London Mela 2015 – pictures special

FOR THE FIRST time, the London Mela was a paid ticketed event and was sponsored this year by broadcaster, Zee.

Though the numbers appeared to be down on previous years, there was still a decent crowd and one which appeared to thoroughly enjoy itself. The Mela is the largest Asian celebration of its kind anywhere in Europe.

Entertaining those through the afternoon on the main stage were singers, the ever popular heartthrob Arjun, Benny Dayal, an AR Rahman protege, who appeared at the BBC Proms this summer, and chart topper Raghav.

To the delight of the crowd, Arjun invited two girls to join him on stage and he serenaded them both.

Also dropping by were Jo and Natalie from Sky’s TV show, ‘Desi Rascals’. They did an impromptu dance to Panjabi MC’s global chart-topping, ‘Mundian To Back Ke’.

Dutch star Imran Khan brought the curtain down on the singing acts on the main stage.

Keeping it all rolling nicely was Zee TV presenter Asad Shan who was joined by Sunrise’s Bob Bawja and the station’s DJ Silk.

Those who stayed to the end were able to witness the collaboration between Dhol Academy and French outdoor theatre specialists Transe Express’ Mobile Homme, and the day ended as always with a fireworks display.

More than 15,000 attended this year’s Mela and a charge was introduced following reduced funding from the Mayor of London, Ealing and Hounslow Councils and the BBC.

*(A note about this story – it has been ‘reposted’ due to a technical glitch… there are no longer captions and the pictures are presented in reverse order from original – apologies! Sept 2017)