York Health and Arts Mela held in Museum Gardens on May 17

The third Health and Arts Mela was held today (Sunday, May 17) in Museum Gardens in York City Centre – bringing together people from across the world to celebrate culture, but also focus on their health and wellbeing.

Mela – meaning ‘gathering’ in Hindi – festivals first began in South India, but have become common in major cities across the UK, with the first York event being held in 2023.

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The festival, which was free to attend, took place between 10am and 5pm and showcased a range of cultural performances, free henna and face painting, and food from across the world.

Some of the live performances throughout the day included the Ebor Morris Dancers, the Hyde Family Jam, the East Asian Ensemble, York African Community, and Punjabi Roots, with a dance floor in front of the main stage to encourage people to join in.

Event organiser Shamim Eimaan said that the event had been a huge success with spectators getting involved and dancing along throughout the morning.

Shamim (left) and one of the participants (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

She said: “Honestly, it’s been great – the rain was threatening us earlier, but the sun’s still shining. All of this community support is fantastic and we’ve got all the stalls here to provide information for the community, which is great.”

Alongside the main stage festivities, 25 organisations from the health, wellbeing sector and arts community were also gathered at the event including St Leonard’s Hospice, Feeding Friendly York and Healthy Child Service, Kyra’s Women’s Project, York CVS, and the National Centre for Early Music.

Shamim added: “Part of this festival is about making healthcare and support accessible to everyone – sometimes it’s hard for people to know, what services are available to them.

The Ebor Morris Dancers (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

“”This is such a welcoming relaxed atmosphere that people can approach all our providers and ask about support. I think the biggest barrier is access and not knowing what services are available and this is a great opportunity to find out.”

One of these groups was the York Carers Centre, who were attending the group to promote their services and raise awareness for the support available to those who are caregivers – which includes support, conducting assessment of needs, and a mental health team.

Libby Crofts, lead officer for adult carers, said: “It’s fantastic to be here at this wonderful multicultural celebration to spread the word about unpaid carers and the support we can offer to people who care for family, friends, and neighbours.”

Libby (left) with another volunteer (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

She added that a lot of people take on care responsibilities for loved ones without realising that there was support systems in place that could help them.

Speakers at the event included MP Rachael Maskell, council leader Claire Douglas, Nimbuscare director Zulf Ali, and City of York Council Director of Public Health Peter Roderick – who all praised the event for not only bringing people together from across the world, but also reminding them how to stay healthy.

Cllr Douglas added: I think what we can see by coming together here is that our wellbeing and our health is really driven by the connection that we have got here today. There are people here, from all communities, from York from the wider North Yorkshire area as well.

The Chinese lion dance (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

“We have seen already amazing positivity that watching our young people, diverse communities, giving us some of this amazing entertainment that we’ve seen, we learn about each other. We enjoy each other. We come together, and it makes us feel better, and it is proven, it makes us healthier too.”