Wednesday, July 21, 2004 15:45
Southampton Mela Festival 2004 | |
|  | | Southampton's Mela Festival |
| | Art Asia's cultural festival made a welcome return to Hoglands Park at the weekend as the crowds turned out in force for Southampton Mela. |
| | | Thousands of people poured into Hoglands Park on Saturday for Art Asia's nine-hour celebration of South Asian culture.
The festival featured a mix of Indian and Asian arts and music as well as stalls for local henna, art and community groups and a wide range of mouthwatering Asian food.
 | | Dance displays |
Among the acts on the main stage this year were the SauRang Orchestra - a jazz/fusion band featuring soloists from India, the UK, USA and Australia, who mix traditional Indian instruments like tabla, sarangi and ghatam with Western instruments such as guitar, bass and sax.
For Bhangra and R 'n' B fans there were top performers like Gubi Sandhu, Indy Sagu, Rahvi Bhullar and Southampton's DJ Vinay.
 | | One of the busy food stalls |
The BBC South display also gave visitors a chance to try their hand at reading the news in a TV studio.
There was also a series of demonstrations and workshops throughout the day including Kathak and Bollywood dance, drumming with Shai Dannon and Rahi Bains' ever-popular Karaoke pulled in the crowds.
Visit our Roots section for more on local arts and events.
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