The 20th anniversary Belfast Mela programme was launched at the Belfast Harbour Commissioners’ Office, with events across the city from 22 to 30 August.

Tourism NI has awarded the festival £30,000 from its International Tourism Events Fund. The organisers project the event will generate just over £1.5 million for the local economy. Around 65,000 people are expected to attend, with approximately 15 per cent travelling from outside Northern Ireland, and it is forecast to deliver nearly 2,700 bed nights.

The launch was attended by the deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Hedley Abernethy, First Minister Michelle O’Neill, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Minister for Communities Gordon Lyons, and Minister of Finance John O’Dowd. Councillor Abernethy said the festival had brought communities together over two decades and thanked founder Nisha Tandon, ArtsEkta, and the artists, volunteers and partners who had sustained it.

Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said the celebration was a real asset to the city and that the funding would support cultural diversity and help attract domestic and international visitors, generating economic benefits for local businesses.

Nisha Tandon, founder of Belfast Mela and chief executive of ArtsEkta, said the 20th anniversary was a proud milestone and that the festival’s strength was its ability to bring people together through shared experiences. She said Tourism NI’s support would help welcome more visitors from across the island of Ireland and beyond.

Siobhan McGuigan, head of events at Tourism NI, said the event strengthened Northern Ireland’s reputation as an inclusive place to live, work, study and visit, and aligned with the goal of supporting experiences that attract international visitors.

The festival opens on Saturday 22 August with the Mela Carnival, which is in its fifth year. More than 800 performers will leave Writer’s Square at 12.30pm and proceed down Royal Avenue to City Hall, followed by a free afternoon of family activities in the Cathedral Quarter.

On Sunday 23 August at 8pm, the Titanic Slipways will host the free outdoor production Earth Child, commissioned for the anniversary. The show, created by ArtsEkta, Fidget Feet Aerial Dance and artist Gráinne Holland, follows a child’s search for balance in a disintegrating world, guided by elemental tribes of Air, Water, Fire and Earth. It will feature performers suspended 35 metres in the air from two cranes, original live music, global drumming, dance, storytelling, fireworks and visual effects. Advance booking is required.

A Mela+ programme runs throughout the week, including an exhibition titled Marking Time: ArtsEkta at 20 at Ulster University from 10 to 23 August, a comedy night on 27 August at OliveTree House, and a Silk Road Supper Club on 25 August at Banana Block presenting Korean food and culture.

For the first time, a partnership with Tunisia will bring a Medina experience to Mela Day, offering Tunisian music, food, crafts, storytelling and family activities. Mela Day itself takes place on Sunday 30 August from 12pm to 6pm at Botanic Gardens, hosted by Carolyn Stewart and UTV’s Paul Reilly. It will feature five stages and cultural zones including World Stage, Showcase Stage, Culture Land, Little Asia, The Medina, Baba Bollywood, World Food Village, Feast Of Fire, World of Words, World of Wellbeing, The Wilding, Mela Bazaar and the Mela Fairy Trail.

Tickets for Mela Day are priced at £12 general admission, £9 concession, and £24 family, with children aged four and under admitted free. Mela Carnival is free, and Earth Child is free but requires advance booking. Full programme details are available at www.belfastmela.org.uk.