Festival brings South Asian culture to Falls
South Asian culture was on display as the sixth annual iMela International Festival took place at Queen Victoria Park in Niagara Falls.
The free-to-attend festival on featured performances from new and established local and international South Asian musicians and dancers, as well as vendors selling clothing, jewelry and food.
On Saturday evening, organizers showed “Finding Nemo” and “Jurassic Park” on the stage’s big screen.
Mela is the Indian name for a social gathering or a fair traditionally held across many parts of the country.
“When I came up with the name, I wanted to name something as the people’s festival, so I came up with iMela, you can say it’s My Festival,” said Baljinder Tamber, founding member and president of the event.
“It’s about connecting people together through music.”
The festival has grown from a single-day event in 2013 to what is now a multi-day event.
Tamber said the biggest challenge the festival faces is making sure international artists get the proper visa that allows them to perform.
“That is our biggest headache.”
For example, Tamber said the festival was scheduled to have a dhol (drum) and bhangra (dance) competition Friday, but participating artists did not get their visas in time.
He said some people landed in Canada Saturday night and Sunday morning and performed in the afternoon.
“My job is to support the people that need help — people that can’t afford to go to other festivals or afford to go on a stage. We search for talent, poor people in different countries, but (in some cases) they can’t get the visa, they don’t have a travel history.”
Tamber said along with local Canadian artists, talent was brought in from India, Australia, United Kingdom and the United States.
He said in India, festivals are held under trees and in scenic places, so that’s why Queen Victoria Park in Niagara Falls works so well for the iMela International Festival.
“There’s no other beautiful place like Niagara Falls. This is an ideal place for a festival.”