The largest celebration of cultural diversity on the island of Ireland drew to a close at Botanic Gardens last Sunday with the traditional Mela Day, sponsored by Sensata Technologies, where thousands gathered for a day of music, food, theatre, arts and dance.

Botanic Gardens was once again transformed into a global party of music, dance, food and art for finale weekend of the night day event hosted by U105’s Carolyn Stewart and UTV’s Paul Reilly. This year’s ever-growing programme, continued to expand with Mela Colours which welcomed people across the city and beyond for one massive colour throwing spectacular on the Great Lawn.

In addition, a week-long series of events took over city with the return of Mela Carnival through Belfast City Centre and a free family day in the grounds of City Hall afterwards, along with an extended programme of late night music, food events, exhibitions and tours throughout the city all week with our MELA+ programme.

Nisha Tandon, CEO & Founder of ArtsEkta, who produce the Mela, said “Mela has become an important platform for so many diverse communities who now call Belfast home, enabling them to share and express their cultural identity. Let’s continue to celebrate everything that is good about our city and its people. We look forward to bringing you another cultural extravaganza of global music, dance, food, theatre and arts in 2024”

We hope you enjoyed all the festival events and look forward to welcoming you back in 2024!