{"id":370486,"date":"2025-08-24T19:38:23","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T19:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/370486\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T19:38:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T19:38:23","slug":"it-has-been-great-an-amazing-way-to-celebrate-cultures-belfast-mela-attended-by-70000-goes-out-with-bold-and-brilliant-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/370486\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It has been great, an amazing way to celebrate cultures\u2019: Belfast Mela, attended by 70,000, goes out with bold and brilliant finale"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 19th Belfast Mela celebrations took place over the course of August 16-24, with more than 70,000 in attendance, and culminated in a thrilling carnival of colour in Botanic Gardens.<\/p>\n

More than 300 artists and hundreds of community participants took part in this year\u2019s nine-day festival.<\/p>\n

\"Belfast<\/p>\n

Belfast Mela in Botanic Gardens<\/p>\n

Watch: Belfast Mela Festival finale takes place in Botanic Gardens<\/p>\n

The famous gardens, following a colourful parade, transformed into a global village, with stalls showcasing traditions and art from Ukraine, India, the Philippines and much more.<\/p>\n

The exciting cross-cultural event was alive with music and dance from all over the world.<\/p>\n

Thousands soaked up the sun in the park, enjoying traditional Irish music along with displays of Chinese and Mexican dance.<\/p>\n

Residents of Belfast proudly showcased their own cultures yesterday as the Mela came to a thrilling close.<\/p>\n

There was bright and brilliant Indian, Slovakian, Filipino and African attire, while the people of Belfast embraced each other\u2019s cultures following a tumultuous June, which saw racial rioting in Ballymena.<\/p>\n

Already excitedly anticipating the 20th Belfast Mela next year is founder Nisha Tandon OBE, director of ArtsEkta.<\/p>\n

\"Founder<\/p>\n

Founder of the Belfast Mela Nisha Tandon at Belfast Mela in Botanic Gardens on the 24th August 2025<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been here for 19 years doing the same thing. It is great to be here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very positive event for us, to bring all of the communities together.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely it is needed [after the race-hate riots]; we shouldn\u2019t be having all of that from last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this is the way life goes, this is something very positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a spate of attacks on members of the Indian community on the island of Ireland over the last few months, the Mela founder expressed how \u201cvery sad\u201d it was to see.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Indian community has been at the heart of Ireland, both south and north,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are important to our economy, our hospitality and healthcare.<\/p>\n

Also speaking to the Belfast Telegraph was Lord Mayor of the city, Botanic councillor Tracy Kelly, who said: \u201cIt is absolutely fantastic to be here today for the 19th Mela in Belfast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lord<\/p>\n

Lord Mayor of Belfast Councillor Tracy Kelly at Belfast Mela in Botanic Gardens on the 24th August 2025<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is something the council is proud to support. Seeing so many cultures come together in such a positive way is fantastic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have got to 19 years and every year it seems to be growing and growing. Nisha is doing a fantastic job \u2014 we can definitely see a 20th Mela.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is good for cultures to come together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are now 20 different nationalities living in Belfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen so many cultures celebrated today in a positive way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is what Belfast is all about: it is about bringing culture together, colours, vibrancy, positivity, and celebrating that as one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following recent DUP opposition to housing asylum seekers in the Chimney Corner Hotel in Newtownabbey, which has been subject to anti-immigration protests over the past year, the Lord Mayor says that people\u2019s concerns \u201cshouldn\u2019t be ignored\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think that we have to listen to people who have those concerns,\u201d said Ms Kelly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t just say that their concerns are not important \u2014 they should be listened to.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I would also like to say that violence is wrong. A protest should be peaceful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sporting his traditional Slovakian wear while enjoying the festivities was Du\u0161an and his daughter, Ella.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Du\u0161an and his daughter, Ella.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been enjoying it very much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a nice colourful festival of different nationalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is good to see them coming together. I have been in Belfast for 27 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cElla is dressed up in a traditional Slovakian outfit \u2014 she will be dancing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a traditional shepherd\u2019s coat and flute \u2014 I will be playing it on the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love [Belfast Mela]. It\u2019s really nice how all cultures are coming together,\u201d Ella added.<\/p>\n

Mayte Segura of Mexican Dance Belfast stunned audiences while dancing with members of the group.<\/p>\n

\"Mayte<\/p>\n

Mayte Segura of Mexican Dance Belfast<\/p>\n

\u201cWe perform all around Northern Ireland,\u201d she told the Belfast Telegraph.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe performed last time at the Ulster Museum but this time at the Belfast Mela.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is an amazing way to bring cultures together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love being a part of it and sharing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think that this festival is just so beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Holywood<\/p>\n

Holywood woman, Kirsty McReynolds<\/p>\n

Kirsty McReynolds, meanwhile, came from Holywood to enjoy the festivities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it is a great, colourful cultural celebration, celebrating all cultures,\u201d she told us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great. There has been great music. We are going to watch some of the acts on the big stage and get some food as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 19th Belfast Mela celebrations took place over the course of August 16-24, with more than 70,000 in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[2378,5813,122257,108813,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-370486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-belfast-city-council","10":"tag-belfast-mela","11":"tag-gabrielle-swan","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115085437714949703","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}