Glasgow Mela draws big crowd to Kelvingrove Park
Scotland's largest South Asian festival drew more than 21,000 people to Kelvingrove Park on Sunday.Organisers hailed crowds at the Glasgow Mela as "a sight to behold", with live music, art and workshops on offer throughout the day.Festivalgoers also sampled food from around the world and tried their hand at a mix of sports including tennis, pickleball, kabaddi and volleyball.This was the 35th edition of the event, after it started in 1990 as part of Glasgow's European City of Culture celebrations.
Bailie Annette Christie, chairwoman of organisers Glasgow Life, said: "Seeing thousands of people pack out Kelvingrove Park for the Glasgow Mela is always a sight to behold. "The 2025 Mela proved why Glasgow is known the world over as a diverse, multicultural city full of artistic talent. The Mela is a firm favourite in Glasgow's cultural events calendar and provides fantastic free performances and a fun day out for everyone."This year was particularly special as the spirit of Glasgow 850 was woven into the programme."
Acts including Gtown Desi, Saloni and Maya Lakhani performed at the Mela, which means means "gathering" in Sanskrit.It aims to promote local artists and their rich cultural heritage, with funding provided by Creative Scotland.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
37 minutes ago
- The National
Glasgow Jazz Festival showcases more than 200 artists
Across 35 performances many shows sold-out, including those by the Grammy Award winning, New Orleans artist Jon Cleary, the jazz fusion outfit Mammal Hands, Scottish jazz ensemble Rose Room and the Scottish jazz trumpeter Colin Steele. Events included free jam sessions, one-off collaborations, a children's music workshop and book reading, alongside an exhibition by the Glasgow-based photographer Alan Donaldson, which captured local musicians. Rachel Duns supporting Neil Cowley Trio on stage at Saint Luke's (Image: Campbell Skinner) The festival aims to promote female musicians, subscribing to Keychange, an organisation which aims to promote inclusivity in the music industry. Three-quarters of the performances this year featured female artists. Jill Rodger, the director of Glasgow Jazz Festival, said: 'From packed venues to incredible performances, the energy brought by both artists and audiences has been wonderful.' Rodger said this iteration of the event has been "one to remember". The festival has hosted some big names through the years. Legendary jazz artists which have performed at it through the years include Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan and Tony Bennett. Creative Scotland supported the Glasgow Jazz Festival 2025. The festival is set to return for its 40th edition next year.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
I won the lottery and whisked my family away on a last-minute holiday – people are surprised by the destination
A LOTTO winner has defender her holiday destination after people cried "why are you not in the Maldives?". Olivia Love, of Glasgow, scooped £10,000-a-month for a year alongside hubby Kevin last month. 2 2 The 36-year-old's been able to quit her job at a local supermarket, and hire a cleaner and gardener. Thanks to her massive tax-free win, she's also made the first steps in building her dream career as a wedding content creator. Since going public with her win, Olivia has been speaking out about the life-changing cash in more detail on TikTok. And she hilariously wiped away fake tears with £20 notes in response to cruel comments from trolls. Recently, she documented her family's "first holiday as lottery winners" to North Wales with their four kids and Kevin's parents. The down-to-earth brood hired a nine-seater car for the four-and-a-half hour journey and stopped off at a service station for a McDonald's to "fuel themselves up". They hired a stunning four-bedroom 17th century farmhouse for the week and spent just £2,202.06 in total including car rental, food, and accommodation. And Olivia has defended her decision to staycation in the UK instead of splashing the cash on a long-haul flight to an exotic destination. While enjoying the sunshine in her Welsh garden, she said: "To everyone that said 'why aren't you going to like the Maldives? You've won the lottery'. It's like 32 degrees and I'm in North Wales. Who needs the Maldives when you have this? "We're in a beautiful old farmhouse. It's just so stunning. "[I] just wanted to take a minute to just appreciate where the hell I am. "It's just wild, it's just so beautiful and warm. I didn't need to leave the country for this." Her holiday clips quickly racked up 11,000 views with social media users rushing to praise her holiday destination. One said: "It's probably hotter there than Spain or Greece, enjoy it." A second wrote: "Looks lovely! Hope you had amazing break." Meanwhile, a third added: "We go North Wales every year!! So so so much to do." We told earlier how a simple email from the National Lottery team at 12.33am on May 16 changed everything for Olivia. Before this, the mum-of-four was earning just £800-a-month working in a supermarket's customer service kiosk. She was on Universal Credits to subsidise her eye-watering £1,800-a-month childcare costs and "dreaded" her council tax bill coming through. She said: "My husband and I claimed Universal Credit because we needed help with the cost of childcare. "Now, obviously, because I've won £10,000 a month for a year, I'm no longer entitled to that which, you know, quite right." Olivia and Kevin won the second-tier prize on The National Lottery's Set For Life on May 15 after matching five main numbers. The winning numbers in the draw were: 03, 27, 42, 45, 46, plus Life Ball 06. 'Set For Life' offers a top prize of £10K a month for 30 years when the five main numbers and the Life Ball are matched. Players can also win £10K a month for a whole year by matching the five main numbers.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Florence gallery says portrait damaged by visitor taking a selfie
A 18th-century oil painting has been damaged after a museum visitor tripped while taking a Uffizi Gallery said a tourist fell backwards while trying to "make a meme in front" of a portrait of Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, by Anton Domenico museum explained the damage could be repaired quickly but director Simone Verde warned restrictions on visitor behaviour could be imposed in the said in a statement: "The problem of visitors coming to museums to make memes or take selfies for social media is rampant. "We will set very precise limits, preventing behaviour that is not compatible with the sense of our institutions and respect for cultural heritage," he portrait was on display as part of an exhibition called Florence and Europe. Arts of the Eighteenth Century at the exhibition, which was made up of about 150 art works, is now closed until 2 July following the incident. The painting will be repaired in the interim so it is ready to go back on exhibition will then run, as originally planned, until 28 November. Earlier this year at Palazzo Maffei, in Verona, a man seemingly slipped and fell on to a bejewelled chair by Italian artist Nicola had been taking photos with a woman, pretending to sit on the chair. Museum director Vanessa Carlon said: "Sometimes we lose our brains to take a picture, and we don't think about the consequences."Of course it was an accident, but these two people left without speaking to us - that isn't an accident."
