Kent Equality Cohesion Council

Tag: Jassi Sidhu

  • 20th Anniversary of Maidstone Mela sees Founder Member Remembered

    20th Anniversary of Maidstone Mela sees Founder Member Remembered

    Temperatures soared at the beloved Maidstone Community Mela in Mote Park on Sunday September 10th which celebrated 20 years of bringing communities together from across the borough and was supported by Arts Council England, Maidstone Borough Council and Unison South East.

    Kent Equality Cohesion Council and its predecessor North West Kent Racial Equality Council have been involved with the Mela since its inception in 2003 when it was founded by the former Mayor of Maidstone the late Morel D’Souza in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. He wanted to organise an event to celebrate the diversity of Maidstone bringing communities together. The Mela for the most part over this period has traditionally taken place on the second Sunday in September.

    The 20th anniversary of the Mela was marked with a special presentation which was arranged by the KECC CEO Gurvinder Sandher and featured the High Sheriff of Kent Nadra Ahmed, Deputy Lieutenant of Kent Brigadier Wood, Kent County Council Chairman Gary Cooke and Mayor of Maidstone Cllr Gordon Newton. A silver salver was presented to Karin D’Souza, the widow of Morel recognising his contribution and leadership to the Mela over many years.

    There was a 6 hour stage programme with an array of diverse artists cultures represented on and off stage. Highlights included Uzambezi traditional Zimbabwean singing and dance troupe, Kitka Bulgaria Dancers and Square Peg Arts an award winning arts organisation whose choir consists of young people and adults with SEND as well as local community groups including the Maidstone Nepalese Community Group, Kerala Culture Association and the Maidstone Malayalee Association.

    Further acts included the Kings of Dhol the UK’s leading Dhol ensemble, Jassi Sidhu international Bhangra Superstar and One Love Orchestra who wowed the crowd with their renditions of Reggae classics.

    CEO of Kent Equality Cohesion Council Gurvinder Sandher MBE DL said: “We are grateful to the local community and all of our partners for their support over the past 20 years. I never envisaged in 2003 that we would still be delivering the Mela in 2023. Much credit needs to go to our community partners who have worked so hard alongside us each year to enable to Mela to take place and to celebrate the diversity and cohesion of Maidstone, our County town in Kent.’’

  • Mela Sunshine in Calverley Grounds

    Mela Sunshine in Calverley Grounds

    Sunshine, music, food and dance from around the world was the order of the day at the 11th Tunbridge Wells Mela Festival which took place in Calverley Grounds on July 17. The Mela was organised by Cohesion Plus and the Kent Equality Cohesion Council with the support of Arts Council England.

    Gurvinder Sandher the Mela Festival Director commented “I have been involved with the Mela in Tunbridge Wells since its inception and am really proud of how we have managed to develop it over the years. This year despite the funding issues we have managed to deliver an excellent culturally diverse stage programme which showcased a number of local acts alongside internationally renowned artists like Jassi Sidhu. I am very grateful to everyone who attended and supported this community celebration. The Mela Festival is unique to Tunbridge Wells and I am determined to keep it going.”

    The Mela Festival stage programme featured a range of culturally diverse acts including local artists Sean Fennessey and Friends and the renowned Paul Dunton Orchestra, Kent based African ensemble Uzambezi, Bulgarian folk dance group Kitka, belly dancing troupe Anaconda and Phase 5 Steel Band. The headline act was International Bhangra Superstar Jassi Sidhu who had the crowd up and dancing with his unique fusion of bhangra and pop music. The Mela Festival was climaxed by Stevie One who sang the hits of Stevie Wonder.

    According to Jassi Sidhu “It was a great privilege to perform in Royal Tunbridge Wells. In recent months I have been performing in North America, Africa and India, so to come to an event like this where many in the audience are not familiar with my catalogue of hits and have them up and dancing was a great experience. I believe events like this are a great way to expose audiences to new styles of music and established artists in particular genres like me to new fans”

    Alongside the exciting stage programme there was a creative arts zone where Same Sky Arts delivered workshops, Four by Four Dhol Drummers taught members of the public how to play the popular Indian Percussion instrument and Nutkhut who performed with their special stilt walkers and had the audience up, laughing and dancing. There was also an array of food, craft and information stalls including Kent Police who were represented along with members of the Tunbridge Wells Independent Police Advisory Group.

  • Tunbridge Wells Mela Festival July 17

    Tunbridge Wells Mela Festival July 17

    The 11th Tunbridge Wells Mela Festival which celebrates the diversity of the borough through music, food and dance will be taking place on July 17 at the Calverley Grounds between 12.30pm and 6.30pm. The Mela has been organised in partnership by Cohesion Plus and the Kent Equality Cohesion Council with the support of Arts Council England.

    A range of culturally diverse artists will be performing at the Mela including Bulgarian folk dance group Kitka, local band Sean Fennessey and Friends, popular Bhangra star Jassi Sidhu, African ensemble Uzambezi, the Paul Dunton Orchestra, belly dancing troupe Anaconda, Phase 5 Steel Band and Stevie One who will be performing Motown classics.

    Alongside the exciting stage programme there is also going to be a creative arts zone where Same Sky Arts will be delivering workshops and Nutkhut will also be performing with their special stilt walkers who will get the audience up, laughing and dancing.

    In the food zone there will be dishes from around the World for everyone to enjoy and there will also be a licensed bar serving alcohol from around the Globe.

    Gurvinder Sandher the Mela Festival Director commented “It has been very challenging this year to raise the funds to deliver the Mela Festival, I am delighted that with the support of Arts Council England, local businesses and community groups that we have been able to pull together the event. I believe that the Arts is an excellent way for bringing communities together and the Mela Festival over the years has proven to be very popular with the local communities. We have an excellent line up made up of local and international artists as well as a wide array of local food and trade stalls which showcase the diversity of the borough.”

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    Please feel free to viev last years Mela

  • Gravesham Fusion Festival 4th Jul 2015

    Gravesham Fusion Festival 4th Jul 2015

    The Fusion Festival which was organised by Cohesion Plus and Kent Equality Cohesion Council with the support of Gravesham Borough Council and KCC Arts Development Unit provided to be popular and saw a number of new and emerging acts performing. These included local band What, a drama by young children from Gravesham especially prepared for the festival by 2B Scene Theatre Company, leading African vocal ensemble Uzambezi, emerging female bhangra star Sarika Gill, popular Bulgarian Folk Group Kitka and Slovakian band Gejza.

    The Fusion Festival took place alongside the 169th Town Annual Town Regatta, Gravesham Summer Queen and the Northfleet Carnival.

    The festival also say the premier of “Samba Bhangra Beats” an exciting new performance co-produced by Cohesion Plus working with the Bollywood Brass Band, Four by Four Bhangra Group and Bloco Fogo Samba. This proved to be a particular highlight and underlined the theme of the Fusion Festival to use the arts bring communities together and promote cohesion and understanding.

    Headline acts bhangra star Jassi Sidhu and Sam Smith tribute Joe Scripps also proved very popular and had the audiences up and dancing with their repertoire of hits.

    In addition to the stage programme there was some exciting creative arts taking place off stage which was delivered by LV21 Arts which proved to be very popular while Nutkhut performed a series of walkabouts dressed as Bollywood stars on stilts.

    Gurvinder Sandher the CEO of Kent Equality Cohesion Council commented “I was very pleased with the support that we received form the local community for the Fusion Festival. It was a great family day out and the performances by all the artists were really enjoyed by the audience. We are committed to promoting our shared values and events like this bring the community together as one to celebrate all that unites us. I am also very grateful for all the support provided by our partners both in the build and on the day itself and look forward to working with them on creating an even bigger and better festival next year.”

  • Gravesham Fusion Festival 2015

    Gravesham Fusion Festival 2015

    BBB 3Kent Equality Cohesion Council working in partnership with Cohesion Plus with the support of Gravesham Borough Council and Kent County Council Arts Development Unit has arranged the Gravesham Fusion Festival. The event will take place on July 4 at the Gravesend Promenade, Riverside Leisure Area between 12pm and 6pm. The aim of the free festival is to showcase new and emerging culturally diverse artists and to celebrate music and dance from around the world.

    There will be a range of culturally diverse artists performing on and off stage and the event is being headlined by bhangra star Jassi Sidhu who will perform alongside the Bollywood Brass Band, leading African ensemble Uzambezi, Bulgarian dance troupe Kitka as well local band What and Sam Smith tribute Joe Scripps. In a change to the published programme Slovakian band Gejza will be performing rather than Rebel.

    The festival will also feature the premier of “Samba Bhangra Beats” a new performance put together by Cohesion Plus working with Bollywood Brass Band, Four by Four Bhangra Group and Bloco Fogo Samba.

    There will be drama also for the first time on the Fusion stage with Cohesion Plus working with 2Bscene Theatre Company on a new production working with young people from the borough.

    Fusion Festival poster 2015The event is being hosted by popular comedy duo Payne and Pearce. There will also a food zone which is being delivered by the Cheese and Chilli Festival.

    In addition to the Fusion Festival the Promenade will also play host to the Gravesend Town Regatta, a fun fair and the climax of the Northfleet Carnival.

    Gurvinder Sandher the CEO of the Kent Equality Cohesion Council commented “We are pleased that our months have hard work have paid off with a fantastic day planned for the Fusion Festival. This event underlines what we are trying to do, namely to bring communities together and celebrate all that binds us. We hope that this event will build upon our recent very successful Saint George’s Day celebrations in the borough. With all the other activities taking place at the Prom at the same time this promises to be a great day out for the communities of Gravesham with the Regatta, Summer Queen and climax of the Northfleet Carnival.” 

    Fusion Festival Poster 2015