Boishakhi Mela

Origins in London

The mela began in 1997 in Banglatown, the part of the Tower Hamlets borough with the largest Bangladeshi population outside Bangladesh. Local people organised it themselves, wanting a Bengali New Year celebration of their own in the city. The older event it draws on is Pohela Boishakh, kept in Bengal. Today a non-profit, Boishakhi Mela Trust Ltd, manages the fair. From 2009 the borough council took on its long-term planning, and the day grew around Brick Lane.

The grand parade

The day opens with the Grand Parade. It sets off in the morning from Allen Gardens, travels down Brick Lane and finishes at Weavers Fields. Women and children walk in brightly coloured traditional dress and masks. Drummers, musicians, dancers and community leaders join them. In 2008 a figure dressed as an emperor led the way, standing for the zamindar, the old landlord of the Indian subcontinent, followed by a tiger, an elephant on wheels and rickshaws. A mechanical Bengali tiger and a four-metre tall peacock called the Bangla Queen have also appeared.

Music and stages

Once the parade is over, the music begins. Music, theatre and dance run on four stages through the afternoon. Singers come from Bangladesh and from the United Kingdom. The programme is wide: folk songs, modern Bengali music, and rap sung in Bengali and Sylheti, along with Sylheti drama. Television coverage has mattered to the mela. Bangla TV was its main broadcaster until 2005, when Channel S took over the rights. Sponsors have included the BBC Asian Network. The organisers say the fair gives young hopefuls and professional artists a place to perform.

Food along Brick Lane

Brick Lane is known for its Bangladeshi-owned restaurants, and on mela day they serve curry to people in the street. Traditional Bengali meals are cooked for visitors by well known chefs brought over from Bangladesh. The 2009 mela had nearly 200 stalls selling Bengali food, drinks and spices. The fair is also a market day: stalls run by community groups and businesses line the route, alongside the stages and the procession.

Today and change

From small local beginnings the mela has grown into Europe's largest open-air Asian festival and, after the Notting Hill Carnival, Britain's second biggest street festival. The London event draws more than 80,000 visitors from all over the country, and in 2009 an estimated 95,000 came, a record for the fair. It is still the biggest Bengali festival held anywhere outside Bangladesh. Community groups and broadcasters keep backing it, and its organisers speak of winning recognition for Bengalis in the West.

How Boishakhi Mela is kept

The day begins in the morning with the Grand Parade, which moves from Allen Gardens along Brick Lane to Weavers Fields. Women and children in traditional dress and masks walk with drummers, dancers and community leaders. After the parade, four stages run music, theatre and dance for the rest of the day, with performers from Bangladesh and Britain. Stalls sell Bengali food, drinks and spices. In London the fair was started by local Bangladeshi residents, and a council and a non-profit trust have since taken on its organisation.

When and where

The Bengali New Year itself falls on 14 April, the day known as Pohela Boishakh in the Bengali calendar. The London mela is not held then. It is put on a Sunday in the second weekend of May, so that the open-air event misses the wetter weather of April. It lasts a single day.

The largest mela is in London, across Banglatown in the borough of Tower Hamlets. Its route runs through Brick Lane and ends at Weavers Fields, with Allen Gardens in Bethnal Green at the start. Bengali communities in the United States, Canada and other countries with Bangladeshi populations hold their own Boishakhi Melas.

What Boishakhi Mela means

For the people who keep it, the mela is a new year's day in a country that is not Bangladesh. It carries Bengali music, dress and food into the street where everyone can see them, and it passes those things to children growing up in Britain. The fair also makes a claim: that Bengalis are part of the city and belong in it. The emperor who led one parade, and the tiger beside him, refer back to the zamindar, the old landlord figure of the subcontinent.

Days Boishakhi Mela is marked

Questions people ask about Boishakhi Mela

See also

DiwaliA five-day festival of lights celebrated across India and its diaspora to mark the victory of light over darkness.HanukkahAn eight-day Jewish festival marking the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the miracle of a single day'Christmas EveThe evening before Christmas, marked by church services, family meals, and gift preparations across Christian cultures.HoliA spring festival of colours and bonfires that marks the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil.

Good reading and sources

• Boishakhi Mela on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.