New events for Belfast Mela 2025 festival celebrates city's growing cultural diversity

Guests were treated to vibrant live performances by Kenyan-born musician Njambi during a colourful launch event at Tetto Belfast, attended by more than 100 supporters and friends of the festival.

Following a record-breaking year in 2024 that welcomed nearly 60,000 visitors, this year's nine-day cultural spectacular returns with an even more exciting line-up of global music, dance, theatre, wellbeing, food, art, and immersive experiences.

The festival kicks off on Saturday 16 August at 12.30pm as the much-loved Mela Carnival lights up the streets of Belfast for its fourth consecutive year.

For the first time, organisers are bringing the magic of Mela to the Cathedral Quarter, supported by CQ BID as St Anne’s Square, Commercial Court (Hill Street), and Cotton Court come alive with high-octane performances from Dhol drummers, Chinese Lion and Dragon dancers, Bollywood and Mexican dancers and the electrifying SPARK drummers.

A further exciting addition to this year’s programme is the Mela International Residency Programme with an exchange between renowned artists from India and Northern Ireland supported by the Arts Council of NI and the Prabha Khaitan Foundation in Calcutta.