Bradford Festival - Pearl and Deanie

I didn't get around to posting pictures of the Bradford Festival the other week, so here are street entertainers Pearl and Deanie.  To qualify for a free lolly you need to be able to tell a good (clean) joke, if you don't know any jokes, a song will do!  The singing stars are volunteer stewards for the Bradford Festival.

Mela Cancelled

I was really looking forward to the Bradford Mela today, a celebration of South Asian Culture with street theatre music and dance.  Unfortunately the event was cancelled at the last minute due to ground conditions at Peel Park.  Due to the heavy rain we have had over the last couple of weeks and with more to come, it was considered unwise to allow the event to go ahead.  I had a quick look back and came up with this picture from the Mela in 2010.  I'm going from memory here, but I think the performer had flown from Pakistan especially for this performance which involved balancing a number of those vessels on top of her head (I can't remember how many, but it was a lot).

Bradford Mela - Bollywood

These Bollywood style dance routines probably drew the largest audiences at the Mela.

Bradford Mela - Wayzgoose Morris Dancers

There seems to be a bit of everything at the Mela. This is the Wharfedale Wayzgoose Border Morris Side from the town of Otley.

Bradford Mela - Chhau Dancers

These Chhau dancers from East India put on quite a performance at the Mela. The performers wear elaborate masks and costumes and act out a kind of dance drama with swords, bows, and lots of acrobatic leaping and somersaults.

Bradford Mela - Taal Tarang

I'm not really familiar with Indian music or traditional Indian musical instruments but I was really impressed with the performance by Taal Tarang at the Mela. The musicians were R N Prakash on the Mridangam (on the left), RR Prathap on the Ghatam (centre), Sithambaranatham on the Jewish Harp (right) and Bernhard Taalis on a western drum kit (out of shot). The music was a mix of Indian and western percussion and not something I would normally listen to, but I did listen, for the best part of an hour, and in the pouring rain, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Bradford Mela - Cuisine

The Bradford Mela was held in Peel Park on Sunday. This years event was slightly smaller than in previous years and held on the Sunday only instead of Saturday and Sunday. The entertainment was still to a very high standard with both traditional and contemporary dance and music from the Indian sub-continent, plenty of entertainment for children, and as usual a wide variety of food stalls. I found it quite interesting to watch the food being prepared and took quite a few photos, the only problem is, it's making me feel hungry looking at the pictures.