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Edinburgh Mela
Edinburgh Mela has been running for over ten years and is Scotland's biggest Asian event. I've been looking forward to this all year and it was certainly well worth the wait
This year it ran over three days beginning with a special ladies only “Sakhian” Night .
This was the third year running for Sakhian, with Mrs Unis leading the event, seemingly proud of how it's grown.
The concept of Sakhian was to allow local female talent to perform uninhibited at this ladies only event hosted by
Zee Tv's delicious looking Tasmin, the inaugural event and was back again this year to host the show.
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Various acts included Mrs Unis daughter in law who shimmied and mimed their way through various famous bollywood songs.
For me the highlight of the show was Fatima, a local lady with a fantastic voice who reappeared on the Sunday stage to try and win a dance contest to meet the famous bhangra artist Malkit Singh. |
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| The multicultural spread of acts was good, giving a mela that showcased artists from not only the asian subcontinent but all over the world. |
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There were of course the standard bollywood dancing performances, but the audience of mainly middle aged pakistani ladies were entertained by a variety of global acts.
The Gypsy fire trio used a mixture of belly dancing and free style african moves to mesmerise the crowd.
Bharatanatyam an ancient classical Indian dance form used to tell stories through facial gestures and poses was performed beautifully by three remarkable young women, two girls in the group then fused this traditional indian dance with irish dancing to form a contemporary indo-celtic dance. |
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| In between the acts there was a small interval where the crowd was able to taste pakoras and samosas from Mrs Unis. Recharged The ghostlike Chang danced a traditional chinese dance. Truly calming and hypnotising. |
As the thunder clouds settled over Pilrig park on Saturday and rain poured until the early evening when it finally eased up, just in time to save the opening day from being a washout and those that braved it out were greeted by plenty of food, clothing and music stalls eager to make up for lost business.
The main marquee hosted a varied mix of asian bands: boy group NRG who were more Fake That than Take that, Bohemia a punjabi rapping Ice Cube lookalike and Sukshinder Shinda who provided uninspired bhangra beats.
However my highlight of the Mela had to be the Chai Serrai marquee, a chill out restful area with comfy cushions, incense fragrant air and world musicians and dance artists. |
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Sundays bands were a lot more energetic and the crowd responded well to the Mentor boyz who whipped up the crowd with their enthusiastic mix of Desi singing and crazy rapping.
The Jinx outfit too had the crowd singing along to hits "Gal sun" and "Akheeyan udheek diya" and the legend that is Malkit Singh nearly caused a riot as fans who wanted to dance at this seated event were refused entry to the front of the stage. |
| The Edinburgh Mela is a must experience for all living near the area. Id suggest the organisers make the chill out chai serrai marquee bigger next year as the desi acts in the main marquee are not always everyones cup of cha. |
| Reviewed by: Vicky Bodane |
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