Days Out


Days Out

ANGELA KELLY
28/ 7/2006

THE Manchester Summer Mega Mela - a fascinating celebration of Asian culture, music, food and fashion - will brighten up the weekend.

This huge and inspirational event returns, building on its previous successes and it is all set to be the biggest-ever Mela held in Manchester.

Thousands of people of all cultures and from all over the North West are expected to head for Platt Fields Park for the event, which runs from noon today (Friday) until 9pm tomorrow and Sunday. Sponsored by Western Union Money Transfer, it is organised by local representatives of the five South Asian nations - Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka - and is a showcase for their best and most interesting cultural elements.

Visitors can enjoy all the fun of the fair and there are fashion shows, performances from locally and internationally renowned artists, more than 60 stalls featuring speciality food, crafts and clothes, music, dance and and Kabadi, a popular Asian contact sport.

Roadshows will be hosted by Sunrise Radio and DM Digital TV Channel. Among the host of stars appearing live will be rising bhangra star Lehmber Hussainpuri and the legendary Birmingham-based bhangra group, B21. UK Mela favourites and superstar MCs Metz and Trix will provide more great sounds and singing sensation Arif Lohar will be giving his modern take on traditional Pakistani folk music.

There will be stands staffed by various agencies offering advice on education, careers, employment and health. Entry is free and on-site parking costs £3 per car.

For further information, contact Sajjad Hussain on 0161 257 0003 and 0161 256 4518 or Khan Moghal on 07818 453546.

IF you like typically English rural activities, head for Romiley in Stockport, for this weekend 's Chadkirk Festival. It celebrates its 10th anniversary and features old-fashioned fairground rides among the attractions. The event brings to life the area's famous chapel, which may date back to the arrival of St Chad in the seventh century.

It's set in the Chadkirk country estate - a nature reserve in the heart of the beautiful Goyt Valley - and the two-day festival will boast traditional arts and crafts stalls. There is also a realistic historical encampment, courtesy of the Knights In Battle Medieval Society. Here, you can witness life more than 500 years ago, including sword-fighting.

New additions include impressive birds of prey tomorrow (Saturday) and circus skills workshops on Sunday. Marple Brass Band will sound the right note for the event and there will be dancing from the Adlington folk dancers and bee-keeping talks from Chadkirk's very own bee-keeper.

There is also entertainment with guitarist Gordon Giltrap from 8pm tomorrow. To find out more, visit www.chadkirkfestival.org.uk URBIS in the centre of Manchester stages Inside/Outside, its first free outdoor music festival and music and fashion bazaar, tomorrow (Saturday).

From noon, visitors can enjoy some of the hottest new and existing talent - both from the city and internationally - who will be performing live.

This includes Planes Mistaken For Stars, The Maples State, Pendelton, Everette and Omerta.

Inside the futuristic centre, from 10am to 8pm, there will be more music, a fashion bazaar and a market place with stalls from Afflecks Palace, Roadkill Records and Spearfish.

Add to that interactive exhibitions and the usual Urbis attractions and you have plenty of reasons to head for the centre in Cathedral Gardens this weekend!



SPACE fans of all ages can now find out about life on Mars "first-hand" - at a splendid exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

MarsQuest answers many of the questions that have long fascinated man about the Red Planet.

Scientists have always wanted to know the answers to questions like: What are conditions like on the surface of Mars? What is its history? and Could there be life on Mars?

Now you can find out for yourself at an exhibition which has more than 20 interactive exhibits allowing you to play the part of a Mars explorer.

You can send commands to manoeuvre a rover vehicle over a Martian landscape, feel Martian soil and experience a Martian volcanic eruption.

There's a theatre that provides "imagination trips" to Mars, a display of real meteorites and the chance to test how you could adapt to space travel, thanks to a human gyroscope.

The exhibition runs until October 1 and is open daily from 10am to 5pm.

Tickets cost £5 each for adults, £3 for concessions. Family tickets for four, including no more than two adults, are £14, and children under five go free.

Log on to msin.org.uk to find out more.

CONTINUING the space theme, children and adults are welcome to question experts at Jodrell Bank about its telescope, the sky and even aliens at special sessions next week.

Each day from 2pm, Monday to Friday, the popular visitor centre is running Ask An Astronomer Q and A sessions.

They're free and open to all. To find out more, ring Jodrell Bank Visitor Centre on 01477 571 339.



THAT lovely story The Railway Children gets the outdoor theatrical treatment in Wythenshawe Park this weekend.

Heartbreak Productions celebrate the centenary of Edith Nesbit's popular children's classic with a poignant and heartwarming family play to please audiences of all ages.

Jenny Agutter famously starred in the 1970 film about children from an affluent home in London forced to live in the wilds of Yorkshire after the disappearance of their father.

The company, which is putting on performances tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday at 6.30pm, promises plenty of interaction, red flannel petticoats and even a train!

The show is suitable for children aged six-plus. For ticket prices and details, ring 0161 236 7110.



ANYONE of any age who ever wanted to be involved with the stage is invited along to Walkden Gardens in Sale next week.

Community workshops will run from 10am to noon and from 1.30pm to 4pm to create costumes and scenery for a community performance of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party from Alice In Wonderland.

This will be performed on August 5 at 1pm at the same venue in Derbyshire Road.

The outdoor workshops are on from Monday to Thursday inclusive. They are free and all are welcome. Just bring a picnic.

To find out more, contact Jo Owen on 0161 912 5596.


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