THE YEAR 2000 |  |
SUNDAY 16/7/200
Up at the crack of dawn and I'm already reminding everybody in the house that I will need to be
out of the house early as the roads are going to be exceptionally busy today of
all days and I don't want to be late. "You know what it's like in Croydon at the weekends". What with all the new traffic lights on Wellesley Road, the new Trams and
Sunday shoppers, an early start on the bike was essential.Half way through the centre of Croydon and I'm cursing the lack of traffic, and I'm only an hour too early when I reach the new festival site in Lloyd's Park. I locked the bike to the nearest fence and tried to convince myself that I won't have long to wait, and started into the sandwiches just as the attendants of the various stalls sent out the first mouth watering aromas. Perfect timing ..... again.
Suddenly it was 2pm and I'm at the front of the main stage listening to a man 'testing, one two, two, two', but thankfully it was a short set and for the next half hour or so the chants of the Haji Ameer Ali Hafeez Khan, an all male singing group kept us all entertained. Between each act various DJs blasted out their home-made fusions of drum & bass, rap and all sorts. I decided to pay the Community Stage a visit, just in time to hear to some classical Indian music with sitar and tabla.
But it was time to get back to the main stage again to hear and see The Children Of The Desert from the Rajistan desert region. This was very traditional music, played on ancient instruments, and the costumes of the musicians and dancers were a sight to behold - one of the days highlights.
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Half way through the afternoon there was a lovely surprise in store and completely
unexpected ... the Carnival Parade. To a background of a throbbing soundtrack, the
children from local schools paraded in front of the stage and what a colourful
display it was. This was followed by my old favourites The Dhol Foundation who
stole the show at last years Mela. This year these drummers were even more incredible as they
were joined on stage by dancers and two young children with their own dhols.
The atmosphere that this group creates, is worth coming for alone, and at this stage the crowd, both young and old were on their feet.Across the site there were various acts doing their thing on the smaller Community and Sunrise Stages where a concoction of soul, r'n'b, boogie, rap and jazz was oozing out to beat the band. Soon on the main stage the Bermingham band, the B21, were really working the crowd into a whizz and the afternoon was brought to a close by Nitin Sawney with a lovely selection of melodic and easy on the ear songs and tunes. Now! What have I done with my photos of The Dohl Foundation and Nitin Sawney?
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Three cheers for the London Borough Of Croydon who provided this excellent entertainment Free Of Charge!
Who The Heck ...? 
Into The West
Old Palace School
The Holy Ground
Music
Now What's He Up To? / The CD Collection
Time For A Story Or Two
Him In The Kitchen
Requiem For Portlaoise
The Quare Fellow
If You Get Bored With All This
The Last Laugh
Goodbye / Visitor's Book / E-Mail