It's a major highlight in the Southampton summer events calendar attracting up to 25,000 visitors and is set to return bigger and better than ever before next year.
Southampton Mela Festival, which had to be cancelled earlier this year due to a weather warning for high winds, will take place on Saturday, July 13.
Hoglands Park in the city centre will come alive with world-class music and dance artists, delicious food from all over the world, family fun activities, creative workshops and a huge range of stalls to explore.
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One of the city's biggest cultural celebrations, the Southampton Mela Festival is a showcase of the year-round music and dance activity that Art Asia coordinate in the city, as well as presenting world-renowned artists who will perform across the three stages in the park.
Dahlia Jamil, Chief Executive of Art Asia, told the Daily Echo: "I am delighted to announce that this coming year’s Southampton Mela Festival will be a big celebration.
"Following the cancellation of the festival in 2023 due to adverse weather, we are looking forward to celebrating together more than ever.
"We are excited to be bringing the festival to our vibrant city packed with world music performances, amazing cuisine, workshops for all ages and many more activities to be announced.”
Celebrating modern and traditional Asian culture and inviting world music acts to perform, Southampton Mela Festival has been going for more than two decades.
The line-up will be announced in early 2024.
Potential stall holders should contact mela.admin@artasia.org.uk, while anyone interested in performing is encouraged to email education@artasia.org.uk
The 2023 event was called off just 24 hours before it was due to take place in July after a yellow weather warning was issued predicting winds of up to 50mph in the city centre.
City businesses and organisations were thought to have missed out on more than half a million pounds in revenue following the forced cancellation of the popular event.
The key funders of the event, which is heavily supported by volunteers, are Arts Council England and Southampton City Council.
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