Baishakhi Mela
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- See also: Pahela Baishakh
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2007) |
Baishakhi Mela is a festival marking the Bengali new year which takes place at Weavers Field or Brick Lane in London, UK. It is the largest open-air asian festival in Europe and the largest bengali festival outside of Bangladesh. After the Notting Hill Carnival, it is the second-largest street festival in the UK attracting over 80,000 visitors from around the UK & Europe.
Although, the Bengali new year falls on 14th/15th April, the festival is held in the second weekend of May on a Sunday to mitigate against the higher risk of rain during the month of April. Having started in 1997, the 10th anniversary of the mela was celebrated in 2007.
[edit] References
- The Baishakhi Mela. BBC. 2005-06-06.
- Banglatown spices it up for New Year at the Baishakhi Mela. The Londoner. May 2006.
- Baishakhi Mela. Your London. May 2007.
- Baishakhi Mela: Bengali New Year. The London Paper. 2007-05-10.
- Magic in the rain. Tower Hamlets. 2007-05-21.
