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Loughborough Town Centre Hosts Charnwood Mela
Posted on 25/08/08
Paul
Quick Link: Loughborough Mela Pictures 
Loughborough and Charnwood yesterday (Sunday 24th August 2008) celebrated at the annual Charnwood Mela and the hoisting of the Olympic Handover Flag at the Town Hall in Loughboroughs Market Place.
Mela is a Sanskrit word that means to get together. In the UK in is typically refers to a multicultural festival incorporating different aspects of British Asian culture.
This was the first time the Mela was held in the town centre, last year it was held in Southfields Park, however it remained a feast of colour, music, dance and entertainment with people of all ages and ethnicities participating and also turning up to enjoy the day events.
Charnwood Mela is a brought about through a partnership between Charnwood Borough Council (CBC), who is the principal funder of the event, Charnwood Racial Equality Council (CREC), who is the lead organisation and Charnwood Arts, together with valuable involvement from local community groups, agencies and individuals.
The core of the Mela was a celebration of Asian culture, however the entertainment included a wide variety of music and dancing from across the world (as evidenced in the photo albums)
In addition, there was fairground rides, childrens entertainers, market stalls selling food and specialist items and notably there was the usual friendly relaxed and harmonious atmosphere.
Mela Chairman, County Councillor Mike Jones, said before the event "We hope that holding the event in the middle of town will afford easier access to both the local community and the citizens of the borough. He urges all to attend, saying where else can you see both professional and local entertainers for free?"
Mike Jones certainly wouldnt have been disappointed with the number of people who turned out at todays event. Whilst rain clouds threatened in the distance Loughboroughs Market Place was packed as people listened to, watched and occasionally danced along with the entertainment. Acts that appeared on the two stages included: Megs, Lacky C, Spice Mix, Play-Az Lab, Ling Peng, Gurpeet Olk, Maher Boys Group, Amisha and Claire Keating.
Towards the end of the afternoons entertainment the Olympic Handover flag was paraded around the town centre before the Mayor raised it on the flag pole, albeit with a slight delay due to being asked by the Loughborough Echo to pose for a photograph.
Cllr Lewis said: "Let us hope that the excitement of the Beijing Olympics will not diminish but serve as a spur for our young people in particular to achieve excellence.
"There is nothing wrong with excellence. Quantity is no substitute for it. While we like lots of people to be doing new things, lets aim for gold!
Also revealed in the speeches was that although Loughborough University has lost the bid for the British Olympic team to use the campus prior to the 2012 Olmpics, the University is holding discussions with America, Canada, Japan and South Korea with a view to one of them using the campus at their staging camp for the games. We might be seeing Michael Phelps wandering around Loughboroughs Town Centre in 4 years time!
Photographs of the days events are available in the albums (mela photographs) and if you want a high resolution original for your own personal use just email paul AT inLoughborough.com who will send it to you free of charge. The resolution of the original will allow the pictures to be printed out at photographic quality at up to A3 size.
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