Ipswich Christchurch Park Indian Mela set to return with Bollywood dancing and turban tying
Bollywood dancing and turban tying are two of the activities Suffolk residents will be invited to take part in during the Indian Mela at Ipswich’s Christchurch Park on Sunday.
The annual event has this year benefited from Conservative councillor Stuart Lawson’s donation of £500 from his county locality budget, as well as funding from Community Action Suffolk.
Mela means “gathering”, “to meet” or “fair” in Sanskrit, and is used in the Indian subcontinent as a term for gatherings of all sizes.
Punna, one of the organisers of the event, said: “The Indian community in Suffolk is quite diverse, with people from the north, south, west and east of the country.
“Events like the Mela are important, as everyone can come along and enjoy themselves.
“The £500 donation has been integral. It has helped us to invite national and local Bollywood artists and to ensure we have activities for the whole community, younger and older.
“There will be free Bollywood dancing workshops, where people will learn from those they watch on the stage.
“My own turban tying demonstrations will sit alongside sari tying demonstrations.
“For me, the highlight will be the point towards the end of the day when I feel I’ve done my bit and I can just enjoy the dancing.”
This is the seventeenth Mela at Christchurch, although the event has not taken place for the past two years due to the pandemic.
An estimated 8,000 people attended the park throughout the day during previous Melas.
Cllr Lawson said: “I encourage people to come to see me if they have an idea for how the locality budget can be used for the good of the community, which is what happened with the Mela.
“The event is such a nice thing for people to get involved with, particularly after the tough couple of years people have had with the pandemic.”
Locality budgets, also known as enabling communities budgets, are sums of money given to councillors to spend on community projects. This year, East Suffolk councillors have £7,500 each. Cllr Lawson received around double this figure as he is both district and county councillor.
