Baishakhi Mela

Baishakhi Mela is a festival marking the Bengali new year which takes place at Weavers Field or Brick Lane in London, UK. It is the largest open-air asian festival in Europe and the largest bengali festival outside of Bangladesh. After the Notting Hill Carnival, it is the second-largest street festival in the UK attracting over 80,000 visitors from around the UK & Europe.

Although, the Bengali new year falls on 14th/15th April, the festival is held in the second weekend of May on a Sunday to mitigate against the higher risk of rain during the month of April. Having started in 1997, the 10th anniversary of the mela was celebrated in 2007.

History

The Baishakhi Mela was launched in Brick Lane, and celebrations of the Bengali New Year have been celebrated by the Bangladeshi community in England, since 1997. The original event based in Bangladesh and West Bengal is called the Pohela Baishakh. This festival was created for the purpose of the Bangladeshi diaspora living in the UK. It was organized by the local people, and is now managed by the Baishakhi Mela Trust Ltd, a non-profit organization.

The Baishakhi Mela is a unique festival, born out of the collective aspirations of a generation of Bangladeshi people who wanted to celebrate the Bangla New Year. It inspires the British Bangladeshi Community to be more creative during the arrival of the event, through the production and the presentation skills of excellent and innovative ideas through participation in the Baishakhi Mela, including the stage planning, music and dancing.

Other than creating the event for the purposes of celebrations for the community, it is also aims to gain recognition of the Bengali people in the UK, by providing different cultures to some British people, and by encouraging them to participate in the event as well, as well as recognizing the Bangladeshi presence in London. Also providing the people the skills and opportunities for the young aspirations as well as professional artists to perform their music or dances.

Events

The event starts from Allen Gardens, through Brick Lane and ends in Weavers Field. Trough this procession, there will be people dressed in traditional clothings with the Bangladesh flag and other national symbols or banners. Women and children are dressed in colourful shari's or salwa kameez.

Gallery

ee also

* Pohela Baishakh
* British Bangladeshi

References

* [http://www.baishakhimela.com/aboutus.html Baishakhi]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/04/27/baishakhi_mela_feature.shtml The Baishakhi Mela] . BBC. 2005-06-06.
* [http://www.london.gov.uk/londoner/06may/p3a.jsp?nav=off Banglatown spices it up for New Year at the Baishakhi Mela] . The Londoner. May 2006.
* [http://yourlondon.gov.uk/articles/2007/may/baishakhimela.jsp Baishakhi Mela] . Your London. May 2007.
* [http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/info/article/1157147392962?packedargs=aid%3D1157147392962%26suffix%3DArticleController Baishakhi Mela: Bengali New Year] . The London Paper. 2007-05-10.
* [http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/templates/news/detail.cfm?newsid=7531 Magic in the rain] . Tower Hamlets. 2007-05-21.

External links

* [http://www.baishakhimela.com Official Site]