Kent Equality Cohesion Council

Tag: Maidstone Nepalese Community Group

  • 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.’’

  • Maidstone Community Mela 2019

    Maidstone Community Mela 2019

    The Maidstone Community Mela in Whatman Park again proved to be popular with over 3000 attending the annual celebration of music, food and dance from around the world. The Mela which is organised by a small group of community partners and volunteers led by Kent Equality Cohesion Council, the Maidstone Cultural Group and Cohesion Plus has proven to be popular in the borough since 2003 despite the many challenges it has faced over recent years.

    The celebrations were formally launched by the Mayor of Maidstone Cllr Marian Ring, Deputy Lord Lieutenant Bill Cockcroft and Kent Equality Cohesion Council CEO Gurvinder Sandher. Those in attendance enjoyed a range of culturally diverse performances including Kent based Phase 5 Steel Band, Folk Band Ukelear Fallout, Maidstone Nepalese Community Group, Maidstone Malayalee Group and Kitka Bulgarian Folk Dance Troupe.

    A Particular highlight was the Cohesion Plus produced Folkin Fusion Collective a high energy show bringing together music and dance from North India and Southern Africa which featured Four by Four Bhangra and Uzambezi Arts. The Mela was headlined by the Kings of Motown who had everyone up and dancing to the classic Motown hits.

    Whilst off stage the arts activity continued with interactive performances by the Chinese Lions, interactive workshops in the World in the Tent which focused on Nepalese and Roma culture and heritage, and for the younger members of the audience there were free arts workshops delivered by LV21.

    The food stalls also proved to be very popular with Indian, Chinese, Nepalese cuisines being served alongside burgers, doughnuts and hot dogs with many selling out whilst the Prosecco bar also did brisk trade.

    Kent Equality Cohesion Council CEO Gurvinder Sandher commented “I am very proud of what we achieved in Maidstone this year. People do not always appreciate how small the team is that puts the Mela on, but all the hard work is worthwhile when you get so many people turning up and supporting us. The Maidstone Community Mela I believe is very important for Maidstone, its ethos is to use food, music and dance to bring communities together and celebrate all that binds us together. The Mela was set up in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and its message is just as important today as it was in 2003 when we first started. I have been involved with the Mela from the start and I am very keen to develop it further next year and we are keen to take it back to Mote Park if we can get a date and also raise the necessary funding.”