By not the Green Arrow!!!
I'm not sure how I ended up at the Manchester Mega Mela, but I did. For those of you who were wondering what the heck the Manchester Mega Mela is, it is...
.... the celebration of everything that's great about South Asian arts and culture with music and all styles of performance from Bollywood to Bhangra will be on show.Now I'm sure you feel better for knowing that. In other words another load of insufferable bollocks from the oh-so integrated immigrant communities which have taken over huge parts of our major cities.
There will be entertainment from locally and internationally renowned artists with headlining acts including Jazzy B, B21, Panjabi MC, Taz - Stereo Nation as well Des C, Mumzy and Jas Dhami.
Sports will include Kabaddi*, Indian wrestling and stone lifting and there will also be fashion shows, arts and crafts stalls, funfair, street theatre, food stalls and much more.
I'm not even sure how a "celebration of everything that's great about South Asian arts and culture" could take up more than the time it takes to say chicken vindaloo let alone a whole weekend.
Undoubtedly it will be held up as an example of our "vibrant multi-cultural society" that we hear so much about. But I've said it before and I'll say it again the fact that for a few hours some folk of different races can hang out together (mainly out of boredom) does not constitute a "vibrant multi-cultural society". You can't paper over the real deep rooted problems caused by mass immigration by throwing a party.
But that's not all. A little research on funding reveals that Manchester City Council have sponsored this event to the tune of £15,000.- PLUS advice and marketing support. How many meals on wheels could the council fund with that little lot?
Scratch the surface a little more and a total funding of £124,000.- in 2009 is revealed for "community festivals" by MCC. And that not including the council funded advice and support on offer. The £29,000.- for the Irish Festival Parade and the St Georges Day Parade is fine. But the £25,000.- for Manchester Pride Parade or the £10,000.- for the Exodus Festival, how can any right thinking person justify that?
And of all the festivals funded, the St George's Day Parade get the least. See the PDF below for the details.
Manchester City Council Event Funding (Link to follow)
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