The Middlesbrough Mela (also known as BoroMela!) is a free, annual two-day long

multi-cultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

festival and mela held in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and is one of the largest events of its kind in

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

History

The Middlesbrough Mela is a blend of the traditional Mela (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: मेला) and a celebration of the

multicultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

life of the people of Middlesbrough. It is collaboratively organised by a committee of residents supported by

Middlesbrough Council Middlesbrough Council, formerly known as Middlesbrough Borough Council, is a unitary authority based in Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. The authority has combined some duties with its nearby councils to form the Tees Valley Combined ...

. The Mela was first held in Middlesbrough Central Gardens, now Centre Square, in 1990 and has moved between this venue and the larger Albert Park, which it returned to in 2019 after a seven-year break. In 2009 localised flooding at Albert Park caused the event to be cancelled. In 2015, its 25th anniversary drew a record audience of up to 50,000 over the two days of the festival. In 2020 it would have celebrated its 30th anniversary, however, the festival has been cancelled due to the

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Festival Programme

The festival celebrates culture and entertainment through world class music, from Hip hop to Bhangra, which are performed across the main and alternative stages. The musical performances are complemented by a wide range of other family friendly activities from across a range of cultures. There is a bazaar featuring a wide range of stalls and a food market featuring cuisines from around the world. Other local organisations such as

Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art MIMA, or Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, is a contemporary art gallery based in the centre of Middlesbrough, England. The gallery was formally launched on Sunday 27 January 2007; since 2014 it has been part of Teesside University. His ...

frequently organise activities and events to complement the mela. Notable past performers have included:

Hunterz Hunterz is a British Asian urban musician with Indian pop and Bhangra influences but based in England. His grandmother moved from Kenya to the U.K. after her husband died. She had to sing to feed her six children. With an early training in India ...

Raxstar Raxstar (born 21 November 1983) is British rapper from Luton. Raxstar came into popularity after the release of "Keep It Undercover" in 2005. Following up with tracks like "Jaaneman", "Ego", "Poison" and "Balwant", he gained more mainstream atte ...

, Rameet Kaur,

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 ...

. Past sponsors of the event have included Middlesbrough Council,

Middlesbrough College Middlesbrough College, located on one campus at Middlehaven, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, is the largest college on Teesside. Admissions It provides predominantly further education, but also selected higher education provision, a ...

Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner The Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner (PCC), an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Cleveland Police in the area of the former county of Cleveland Cleveland ( ), o ...

Unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

, Coast & Country Housing and the Cleveland Centre.

External links

Middlesbrough Mela

References

{{reflist Middlesbrough International festivals Recurring events established in 1990 Arts festivals in England 1990 establishments in England Events in England