Oslo Mela Festival's photostream  

”Mela” is a Sanskrit word which means ”meeting place”. Oslo Mela first took place in 2001 as a small Norwegian-Pakistani event. The festival grew rapidly and in 2004 it attracted a public of around 70.000. According to an estimate in 2009, around 330,000 people visited Mela during its three days. Approximately half of the audience is ethnic Norwegians and over 60% is women and children. As per today, Oslo Mela Festival has become the biggest multi cultural event in Scandinavia. It takes place every year in August.

During its nine years more than 1500 artists from all over the world have performed at the Oslo Mela – among them international artists such as Miriam Makeba, Abida Parveen, Apache Indian, Arif Lohar, Ali Zafar, Ali Azmat, Noori, Strings, Abrar ul Haq, Jawad Ahmad, Natasha, Kimbara, Karpe Diem, Samsaya, Mira Craig, Transjoik, Sher Miandad Qawwal, Hudeydi, Abaji, Aida Nadeem, Fez City Clan, Sahara, Dhol Foundation, Harbajan Talwar, Aster Aweke, Atif Aslam, RDB, Maryam Mursal, Naheed Siddiqi, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Rafaqat Ali Khan, Stereo Nation, Overload and many others.

The Oslo Mela is unlike many Melas in other parts of the world, because it embraces both local artists with a minority background, ethnic Norwegians in cooperation with international artists and famous artists from a number of countries. The Mela brings popular as well as classical music, theatre performances, poetry and literature, handicrafts, fashion shows and food to the public in Norway.

Mela is organized by Horisont Foundation (http://www.horisont.org ). In addition to Oslo Mela, Horisont stages concerts, exhibitions, seminars and cultural workshops. The cultural exchange with other countries go both ways; several Norwegian performers have cooperated with artists from other parts of the world in concerts, theatrical performances and CD recordings. A cultural exchange programme with Pakistan has been instigated and exchange programmes with other countries are being worked out.