Preparations are now at an advanced stage for the annual Maidstone Community Mela and Food Festival which will be taking place in Whatman Millennium River Park on Sunday July 22nd between 12.30pm and 6pm. The free event which has been taking place in the borough since 2003 is a celebration of music, food and dance from around the world and is organised by Kent Equality Cohesion Council and Cohesion Plus working with local community groups through the Mela Advisory Group.

There is an exciting programme of artists due to perform on and off stage including Maplesden Noakes School, Reel Eire Irish Dancing, Lambrego Brazilian band, Kitka Bulgarian Folk Dance, Maidstone Nepalese Community Group, Dance Asia Bollywood Fusion and the Chinese Lion Dancers. The Mela will be headlined by Folkin Fusion drumming collective which fuses the traditional dhol drum from North India and the Djembe drum from Southern Africa mixed with a little bit of bhangra and hip hop to get everyone up and dancing and Tanni Browne one of the UK’s leading Bob Marley Tribute acts.

Off stage the food festival will have something for everyone ranging from British, Indian, Greek, Spanish, Nepalese, Chinese and Thai cuisines as well as doughnuts, ice cream and hot drinks. In addition there will be a number of information stands including National Citizenship Service, Kent Police and the Rotary. The Mela will be officially opened by the Mayor of Maidstone Councillor David Naghi and Helen Grant MP.

The Mela this year has been funded through Awards for All, KCC Members Fund, Golding Homes as well as donations from members of the public.

According to Gurvinder Sandher who is Mela Artistic Director, “We hope that the community of Maidstone will come out and support the Mela and Food Festival this year. Lots of time and effort has gone into putting together this community celebration and we have had to overcome many challenges to get this far. The Mela is a great example of communities coming together through music, food and dance to celebrate the diverse communities of the borough and shared British values. This is an approach I feel other parts of the Country can learn from.”