The hugely popular Tunbridge Wells Mela Festival will return to the borough on July 7th. The Mela Festival is now in its 14th year and takes place in Calverley Grounds between 12.30 pm and 6.30 pm. The Mela which is organised in partnership by Cohesion Plus and the Kent Equality Cohesion Council with the support of Arts Council England celebrates the diversity and cohesion of the borough through music, food and dance.

As in previous years, the Mela Festival promises to be a great free day out for the family. This year’s stage programme boasts a range of leading culturally diverse artists with an international flavor including Dance Asia, Sahrudaya West Kent Karalites Sussex Syrian Trio and DDFK Brass Fusion. They will be joined by local favorites Fireflies, Just Dance and the Paul Dunton Orchestra.

The Mela Festival headliners are the Cohesion Plus and Festive Road produced “Dancing Maharajas” featuring Four by Four Bhangra and Common Denominator who will be performing classic reggae hits.

The off stage activity will be just as colourful. Highlights include Airheadz who will be providing free aerial workshops for young people and LV21 who will be delivering free arts workshops.

Alongside the exciting artistic programme, there will be a food zone where there will be countless delicious dishes from around the World for audiences to enjoy including Thai, Indian, Greek, Chinese and British food as well as Ice Cream, Donuts and Fudge. No festival is complete without a cold beverage so the Tunbridge Wells Forum Bar will be serving craft alcohol from around the Globe.

Gurvinder Sandher the Mela Festival Director commented “I have been involved with the Mela Festival from the start an am very proud of how it brings the local community together of all ages and backgrounds. We have a really good programme this year showcasing both local and international artists whilst off stage there will be plenty of opportunities for children to get involved in arts based activities. We work very hard to raise the funds to put the Mela Festival on and look forward to welcoming the community of Tunbridge Wells to Calverley Ground son July 7th.”