Member Article

Crowds expected as Manchester lights up for Hindu New Year

A festival marking the start of the Hindu New Year is to be held in Manchester’s Albert Square for the first time - and is expected to draw large crowds.

The Dashehra and Diwali Mela will be held in the city centre on Saturday 12 October as members of the Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Nepalese communities across the world celebrate the start of the Hindu new year.

Councillor Rosa Battle, the City Council’s Executive Member for Culture and Leisure said: “The mela has previously been held in Platt Fields Park but this year we decided to bring this colourful and exciting family-friendly event into the heart of the city to attract new audiences so that more people can experience this cultural extravaganza.”

The festivities will kick off with live performances by Sukshinder Shinda regarded as the world’s most influential Punjabi producer, explosive band Baja, Desi Nach andl come to a close with fireworks and fiery tribute to ten headed demon king Ravan by artists from Walk the Plank..

During the afternoon alongside the music and dancing, there will be arts and crafts workshops for children and adults including henna and face painting, lantern making and paper craft. Visitors will be able to enjoy authentic and mouth-watering tastes of Indian food as well as buy clothes, jewellery, crafts and accessories..

In the Dholdrums, a giant mobile Dhol drum flanked by 6 drummers, will lead a lantern procession of up to 200 children around Albert Square at 6.30pm. As the procession ends, the giant drum will open and become a three-tiered stage and reveal more drummers inside before the fireworks finale brings the event to a close.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .