The Mela Festival
15–17 August 2025, Rådhusplassen: Yearly Multicultural festival for the whole family!
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Yearly multicultural festival for the whole family!
The word Mela means "to meet" in Sanskrit. The Mela Festival is an urban, cross-genre meeting place for the celebration of art and cultural expressions that have come to Norway through immigration, especially from countries in the south. The Mela Festival was organised for the first time in Oslo in 2001, and has since developed into one of the largest of its kind in Europe.
The Mela Festival disseminates art and cultural expressions from all over the world. In-house productions in which Norwegian and foreign artists collaborate are a mainstay of the festival. In addition, Mela focuses particularly on local artists.
The festival works to raise awareness of cultural diversity, increase the participation of immigrants in Norwegian cultural life and encourage cultural institutions to be more inclusive.
Mela is held at Rådhusplassen in Oslo and has free admission.
Last Updated: 02/05/2025
Source: VisitOSLO as
The Mela Festival