EASTLEIGH Mela is only days away, and a thousand people are expected to attend to celebrate South Asian culture.
The multicultural festival will be returning to Leigh Road Recreation Ground on Sunday, July 24. 
Local food vendors will be bringing a 'mouth-watering' variety of Asian food right to our doorstep as well as Mexican, Brazilian, and Caribbean recipes.
Event coordinator, Mohammed Mossadaq, said: "We are expecting a packed crowd and hopefully good weather.
"There will be something for everyone.
"The mela will be a meeting place for all performers across the UK and communities. We hope this event can bring them together." 
On the day, there will be two stages that feature 'non-stop' performances by both local and national performers.
The Eastleigh event will showcase performances by the South Coast Bhangra group, Bollywood dance workshops, Nepali dancing, the Chinese Association dragon dancing act, and Swan Samba will take over the stage too.
The highlight of the event will be a performance by the British-Indian musician, Harcharanjit Singh Rupal OBE, known professionally as Channi Singh.
He is the "godfather" of bhangra, an Indian dance form.
The mela has now been running for 16 years and is organised by the Asian Welfare and Cultural Association (AWCA). 
This year, the organisation has also set up a few zones in the mela, such as the health zone, where visitors can receive free basic health checks and information.
The information zone at the celebrations ground will have stalls and volunteers for local community projects and services such as fire, police and Eastleigh Borough Council. 
Finally, at the family zone, parents and children can enjoy activities such as wall climbing, creative crafts, kite making, face painting, Taekwondo, Indian martial arts, Chinese Lion dancers, and much more.
This free festival will kick off at 11am and end at 6pm.
Click here for more information.
A message from the Editor
Thank you for reading this article - we appreciate your support in reading the Daily Echo.
Subscribing to the Echo means you have unrestricted access to the latest news, features and Saints coverage - all with an advertising-light website.
You will also have full access to Saintsplus, your new home for Southampton FC tactical analysis, features and much, much more.
Don't take my word for it - subscribe here to see for yourself.
Follow the latest breaking news in the Southampton area by joining our Facebook group - Southampton News - Breaking News and Incidents
Follow the latest court and crime news on our dedicated Facebook group - Hampshire Court and Crime News
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here