 Mela 2008: A Festival Suited to All
Mela is again coming to town! This year´s event takes place at Rådhusplassen (City Hall Square) from Friday 22. to Sunday 24. August. The festival is considered to be the biggest international celebration of culture and creativity in Norway, with artists from more than twenty countries performing with their bands, alone or together. The diversity of the Oslo Mela event makes it ideally suited to people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures.
This year´s programme includes a main music stage, Mela Spice, the smaller and more intimate Mela Mix, the children´s stage Mela Fantasy and a separate stage for the Vietnamese water puppet theatre. In addition there will be food and handicraft stalls presenting products from many countries.
The Opening Ceremony takes place in the City Hall on Friday 22 August at 5 p.m. with HM Queen Sonja present. Admittance by invitation only – while the rest of the festival is free and gratis. At 6.30 p.m. the first artists enter the main stage at Rådhusplassen. Saturday and Sunday the festival area opens at 12 a.m.
Among the artists performing this year are Ali Zafar, Farmer´s Market, noori, Faakhir, Fez City Clan, Samsaya, Malika Makouf Rasmussen, Sher Miandad Quawwal, Talwar Singh, Solo Chissoko, Transjoik, Odd Børetzen, One Unity, The Beats, Viet Vo Da House, Gatas Parlament, Tran Quang Hai, Sudesh, Real Talk – and many more.
Water puppetry
The Mela Festival is especially proud of being able to present Vietnamese water puppetry this year, for the first time in Norway. Múa roi nouc, puppets dancing on water, is an art form existing only in Vietnam and is more than a thousand years old. The performance takes place in a chest-deep pool of water, with the water's surface as a stage. The puppeteers stand behind a curtained backdrop. Over the last decade, water puppetry has been rescued from near oblivion and is now protected by UNESCO (United Nations Eucational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
The troupe from Vietnam´s National Puppetry Theatre consists of 15 puppeteers and musicians. Performances will be held once on Friday evening and several times on Saturday and Sunday.
City Hall Gallery
In the City Hall Gallery, the famous Vietnamese-American director/producer/writer Ham Tran (who has been shortlisted for the Oscar) will give lectures on films as well as showing short films. There will also be an exhibition of photographs from Pakistan taken by Noman Mubashir during the production of his TV series ”A Noman In Pakistan”.
Parade
For the first time in Mela´s history a parade will be held at Karl Johans gate. The parade starts at Universitetsplassen Saturday 23. August at 3 p.m., goes along Karl Johan to Egertorget and from there down to Rådhusplassen. Among the paticipants will be Bollywood Brass Band and BeatLife from Great Brittain and several bands and groups from Latin America, Asia and Norway.
Before the parade starts, there will be a concert at the Music Pavilion in front of the National Theatre, featuring Norwegian as well as Latin American artists. You should not be afraid if you also encounter a couple of three meters tall Maharajas at Karl Johan!
Children
The Mela Festival also has a number of activities for children. The will be a Children´s Painting Corner, music and dance workshops and activites organized by The Norwegian Museum of Science, Technology, Industry and Medicine. There will also be a Family Reggae Disco – and you can listen to fairy tales, watch jugglers and much more. |
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