The evening itself was spectacular, with approximately 450 people, including children. RAD hosted “Deafies Got Talent” for the first time, to give Deaf contestants a great opportunity to show off their talents. We are pleased to announce that Roshan won for his brilliant performance of breakdance. If you missed his performance, you can watch him at Moon and Light festival provided by deafPLUS on 15 November 2008.

After a delicious three Asian courses meal – we provided a variety of performances, including Ricccardo Weare’s two beautiful signed songs. At the end, it was a well packed event!

We really want your feedback on the Deaf Ethnic Cultural Mela on 4 October 2008! Please email your feedback to mela@royaldeaf.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you!

It costs £15.00 inclusive of P&P. Please don’t forget to tell us your address so we can post you the DVD. If you drop into our office in person, the price is £12.00.

RAD has, in the past, organised a variety of cultural events for; Diwali, Eid and Black History Month. Rather than holding individual cultural celebrations, RAD decided to host a multi-cultural event for all deaf ethnic groups at one venue. The Deaf Ethnic Cultural Mela took place at Eastbury Comprehensive School in Barking on 20 October 2007 and was organised by Mangai Sutharsan and Sumita Paul, Project Workers - RAD Ethnic Service. It took just few months from original concept to produce this stunning celebration of dance, drama, music and food from around the world. This was the second event of its kind and a huge success amongst the deaf BME community.

The event was attended by approximately 800 people. The daytime exhibition was extremely popular and included performance workshops and activities such as face painting, clay modeling, hair braiding and henna painting. Guests also had the opportunity to try on a sari and sample ethnic foods. A crèche was provided for the children, who had a fabulous time whilst parents enjoyed the array of activities at the event.

At 6pm the evening event was opened by Mangai and Sumita, followed by a few words from David Morris, Senior Policy Adviser (Disability) to the Mayor of London who spoke of his commitment to supporting Deaf people from cultural backgrounds. ‘Carol’ from ‘Big Brother’ was at the event throughout the day, face painting, chatting with guests and later speaking of her commitment to the ‘coming together of communities’. A wonderful evening of cultural performances delighted the audience after which food was served, including Indian, Chinese and Carribean.

Feedback proved the event to be extremely popular.

“Great Mela, lovely food and great venue”

“Loved the stalls”..”Great networking opportunity”

“Hope there will be many more such events”