More businesses and organisations across Northern Ireland than ever before have signed up to support the 18th Belfast Mela Festival showing their support for cultural diversity, as the Belfast Mela Carnival gets ready to take to the streets of Belfast this Saturday (17 August) led by the Lord Mayor of Belfast Cllr Micky Murray.
Dr. Nisha Tandon, OBE, Founder of Belfast Mela and Director of ArtsEkta says: “I am absolutely delighted with the wonderful support we have received from corporate Northern Ireland this year.
“Sensata Techologies is once again our title sponsor for the Belfast Mela Festival for the seventh year running and Allstate Northern Ireland has joined us in 2024 as our first ever Wellbeing sponsor. Along with our principal funders Belfast City Council, The Executive Office and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, we now have more than 20 Friends of Belfast Mela who champion and share in our vision for a diverse and inclusive society in Northern Ireland.
“We welcome our new Friends of Mela for 2024 who together with our existing Friends of many years make up an impressive list of who’s who in corporate Northern Ireland including:
Allstate NI; BBC Northern Ireland; Belfast Harbour; Co-Ownership; Citi, Danske Bank; Department of Finance & NICS; Department of Justice; Equality Commission for Northern Ireland; FinTrU, Grant Thornton; Hastings Hotels; HSBC, Labour Relations Agency, Phoenix Energy; NIHE; Pinsent Masons; PSNI; Queen’s University Belfast; Translink and Ulster University along with our wonderful media partners since the start of Belfast Mela UTV and U105.
“This corporate support along with our public funding enables ArtsEkta to continue our year-long work across Northern Ireland delivering creative programmes that will continue to educate all communities and create mutual understanding and respect.
“This year more than ever it is important for Northern Ireland to stand together and embrace all communities who have made Belfast their home. The Mela’s growing popularity is testament to the support the majority of people in Northern Ireland have for cultural diversity. I look forward to welcoming you all to festival events as we approach the end of the summer and encourage you all to learn, share, talk and celebrate everything that is good about our city and its people.”
Darren Walker, Site Leader at Sensata Technologies NI, principal sponsor of Belfast Mela says: “As a global company, we are very proud of our diverse workforce. We know that we are smarter together. That’s why we are delighted to continue our support for the Belfast Mela Festival and its goal to celebrate the richness of culture that we have in Northern Ireland. It’s great to see it continue as a nine-day festival with lots of events for all the family.”
Stephen McKeown, Vice President/ Managing Director, Allstate Northern Ireland said: “Inclusive Diversity & Equity (IDE) is a core value at Allstate, and it’s our purpose-driven employees who bring it to life. We embrace diverse perspectives, experiences and engagements that contribute to a more inclusive place to work. The Belfast Mela Festival aligns with our values to celebrate and showcase cultural diversity and promote diversity and inclusion.”
To find out more about becoming a Friend of Belfast Mela, email admin@artsekta.org.uk
The full Belfast Mela 2024 programme is available online at https://belfastmela.org.uk
Follow ArtsEkta’s social media for updates on this year’s Belfast Mela Festival: www.facebook.com/artsekta1 and Instagram and Twitter @ArtsEkta using #BelfastMela