East London born Hindi/Urdu/R&B fusion act Shekie and Sham headlined The Mela at The Mall, a Bollywood meets traditional Indian market day that took place at The Mall, Ilford organised and promoted by Grappa on Saturday 8^th November.

The Mela featured a rich variety of entertainment. Henna artist Joshiv, whose clients range from Sir Bob Geldof and Mick Jagger to Ashwariya Rai, delighted visitors with her beautiful henna designs.

 Shoppers packed The Mall for the ethnic-inspired fashion shows, which also featured traditional Bollywood dancing. An array of authentic stalls selling Indian arts, crafts and jewellery drew in visitors from East London. Asiana Magazine provided Bollywood style and image makeovers giving shoppers the chance to pose and be photographed as a Bollywood star thanks to some clever image manipulation!

The Mela also included a fun-packed Rangoli arts workshop for children, where they made traditional decorations using paints and artists’ materials. Rangoli is used commonly outside homes in India.

Andrea Marie, marketing manager for The Mall commented: “The Mela was a fantastic day for the local community. Not only did it provide entertainment, but it gave visitors to our centre a flavour of Indian culture, from dance and music to henna designs.

 “It’s the first time we have brought together such a rich variety of Asian-inspired entertainment and judging by the boost in visitor numbers it is clear they loved the addition of authentic Indian arts and crafts to the shopping we have at The Mall.”

Footfall on the day soared by 18% in comparison to the same weekend in 2007.

Click here to view photographs from the fashion show on asian fashion blog.