The Cardiff Mela (also known as the Cardiff Multicultural Mela) is an annual large-scale outdoor multicultural festival, held in the city's Roald Dahl Plass, in

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of w ...

. It is a free event and run by a not for profit organisation based in Cardiff. It celebrates many cultural aspects of Asian life, particularly music, dance, fashion and food. The annual event first took place on an outdoor location in 2007 at Coopers Field, Cardiff Castle in the heart of Cardiff City Centre. The 2009 festival featured bhangra, Bollywood and rnb singers including

H Dhami Hartinder Dhami better known as H-Dhami is a British-Indian Bhangra artist. Early life H-Dhami is the son of Palvinder Dhami, lead singer of the 1980s prominent Bhangra group Heera Group UK. He was born in 1982 to a traditional Sikh Punjabi family ...

, Mumzy Stranger and Navin Kundra amongst others. The 2010 event attracted over 30,000 visitors and featured a performance from Bombay Rockers. The Cardiff Mela is also part of

Cardiff Festivals ''Cardiff Festivals'' are a series of festivals held in the capital of Wales, Cardiff and nearby areas every summer. The festival started back in the 1980s and are organised by several associations. The festivals include: * Velothon Wales * Extr ...

which is a series of events that include live music, street theatre, open-air theatre, children’s entertainment and funfairs. Cardiff Festival provides a mix of popular, well-established and new events that take place in the city centre and around Cardiff Bay. The Mela was founded by Imran Iqbal who is currently the event's artistic director and coordinator.

2010 Event

In 2010, the Mela was part of a special national partnership entitled 'Planes, Trains and Rickshaws' which saw the two performers start their day in Cardiff Bay, followed by a trip down the M4 to the London Mela, then flying north to end their journey on the

Edinburgh Mela The Edinburgh Mela is an annual multi-cultural festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is one of the 12 festivals that make up the Edinburgh Festival. The first '' mela'', a Sanskrit word meaning "gathering" or "to meet", was held in 1995 at M ...

stage, performing at all three events in the same day. The event itself was headlined by the Bombay Rockers and Imran Khan, however Imran Khan was unable to perform due to ill health.

2011 Event

The 2011 event took place on Sunday 24 July 2011 and featured performances from

Stereo Nation Tarsame Singh Saini (23 May 1967 – 29 April 2022), also known as Taz Stereo Nation and previously Johnny Zee, was a British singer, composer and actor of Indian descent. He was the lead singer of the pop band Stereo Nation which was formed in ...

, Mumzy Stranger, Jernade Miah, Mohammed Uzzal miah Panjabi by Nature, Panjabi Hit Squad, Junai Kaden, Juz D. The event was hosted by Tommy Sandhu and Noreen Khan from the BBC Asian Network.

2012 Event

The 2012 event took place on Sunday 15 July 2012. Artists who performed at the event included

Imran Khan (singer) Imran Khan (born 28 May 1984) is a Dutch-Pakistani singer, songwriter. Khan sings in Punjabi and English. He first reached stardom in 2007 after the release of his first single "Ni Nachleh".. Khan was signed to Prestige Records in late 2007, a ...

, Jassi Sidhu & Apache Indian.

2013 Event

The 2013 event will take place on Sunday 30 June 2013. Artists who performed at the event included Juggy D &

Jaz Dhami Jaswinder Singh Dhami (born 1 March 1989), better known as Jaz Dhami, is a British-Indian playback singer, music composer, music producer, and performer. Early life Jaz Dhami is a native of Sandhra Sodhia in the Hoshiarpur district and is of Pu ...

2014 Event

The 2014 event took place on Sunday 14 September 2014. Artists who performed at the event included

Lehmber Hussainpuri Lehmber Hussainpuri (pronounced ; born 17 July 1977) is an Indian Bhangra singer. Life Lehmber Hussainpuri was born on 17 July 1977 in his village Hussainpur. He now resides in Deol Nagar Jalandhar City. On May 31, 2021, Lehmber was accused ...

& Team PBN.

2015 - 2018 Event

The event did not go ahead these years due to non availability of funding and non availability of venue.

2019 Event

The 2019 event took place on Sunday 15 September 2019. Headline artists included

, Koomz, Bambi Bains & Jay Kadn.

2020 - 21 Event

The 2020 and 2021 event was cancelled due to Covid 19.

2022 Event

The 2022 took place on Sunday 18th September 2022. Headline artists included Raf Saperra, Liilz, Metz & Trix, Dj Kizzi &

Panjabi Hit Squad Panjabi Hit Squad are British DJs, producers and radio broadcasters for BBC Asian Network and formerly BBC 1Xtra. The group recorded several albums, including ''Desi Beats Vol 1'' with Def Jam. They have won the UK Asian Music Awards three times, ...

and the event was hosted by Serena, & Smash Bengali from the BBC Asian Network.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Cardiff Mela Official Website
Festivals in Cardiff Butetown