Dancers at the Nottingham Mela Festival from a previous year

Nottingham Mela 2022

The Nottingham Mela is the annual festival celebrating South Asian Arts in Nottingham, taking place at New Art Exchange (NAE) in Hyson Green. The vibrant, family friendly Mela programme runs over four days and features live music, dance, storytelling, comedy poetry, yoga, art workshops, a henna zone, and a desi menu created by the NAE CaféBar. The programme includes events for all ages and interests, they are all free and are a mix of drop-in and pre-book.

Mela starts on Thursday 1 September with a double bill film screening of Chai Experience and The Namesake. Chai Experience captures the experiences of Nottingham’s South Asian citizens as they’ve arrived from India and settled in Nottingham. The Namesake is the story of an Bengali couple who migrate from India to New York.

The official Mela Launch takes place on the evening of Friday 2 September with live Bollywood and Bhangra music by Kaykay. The launch is followed by Nott Another Mela!, a night of local South Asian talent including comedians, poets, singers and rappers.

Saturday’s Mela is a family friendly ‘Roti Festival’ day with Roti Moon Theatre Performances, Saturday Mela Art Club, a Family Bhangra Rave and live music events.

Sunday’s Mela programme is based on relaxation and wellbeing, with workshops, delicious food, yoga, poetry and live music.

Full details of the whole Mela weekend are available on the Visit Nottinghamshire website or you can download the full programme.

For more information, photographs, photos op and interviews, please contact Parmjit Sagoo on parmjit@nae.org.uk

The Nottingham Mela is organised by the Nottingham Mela Network is a partnership between New Art Exchange, Nottingham City Council and Nottingham Asian Arts Council (NAAC)

Posted on 24 August 2022

Back to the News page

Featured author

Featured author

Jack Woolley