NEWS RELEASE

Nepali Mela: The Himalayan Festival at Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto

The Nepalese Canadian Community (NCCS) is organizing a one day outdoor Nepali cultural festival in Toronto called the ‘NEPALI MELA: The Himalayan Festival’ (“mela” in Nepali means festival) on Sunday, 23 August 2009. The MELA, being organized at the Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen Street West, will provide a platform for participants to experience and celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Nepal. It will feature an extensive array of Nepalese arts, crafts, food, and music that will give a taste of the diversity of Nepal. 

The one-day festival presents unique folk dances such as Laakhe, Tamang Selos, Newari and Tharu dance. Traditional as well as modern songs of different genres that capture a range of beautiful nuances of diverse ethnicity and culture of Nepal will be performed in the festival.  Likewise, the festive day will include paintings and photo exhibition along with film screenings reflecting on and highlighting different spheres of Nepal’s everyday life. These visual media will not only make the festival more multi-dimensional but will also provide a rare glimpse of Nepal’s unique beauty.

Participants will be able to get a taste of Nepalese food and view/purchase Nepalese crafts from the wide array of Nepalese food and crafts stalls at the MELA.  In order to provide people a hands-on experience to interact with the Nepalese culture, the MELA will include free workshops on traditional Nepalese musical instruments like Maadal (Drum), Saarangi (Nepali Violin) and Baasuri (flute) and on the unique art Thanka painting (a traditional style of Nepalese painting).  Not to mention, there will also be stalls offering free Mehndi and face paintings.

NCCS invites all the Nepalese and non-Nepalese in Toronto and across Canada to come out and join in to celebrate the Nepalese culture at the Himalayan festival.  We believe that the festival will serve as a platform to build cross-cultural linkages and contribute towards Toronto’s multicultural spirit.

Media Contacts:

Naba Gurung                                        647 444 0044                        nabarajgurung@hotmail.com

Bina Berma                                           647 292 4896                      bberma@yahoo.com

Founded in the year 2000 in Toronto, Nepalese Canadian Community Services (NCCS) is a registered non-profit community organization without religious, political or governmental affiliations. Supporting the people of Nepali origin to settle well in Canada and fostering development of their cultural heritage within the framework of multiculturalism are the basic foundations of this organization. For details, please visit www.nccs.ca