Newcastle Mela is all set for big Bank Holiday weekend celebration marking its 30-year anniversary

The popular Newcastle Mela will see the city in party mood this Bank Holiday weekend as the festival marks its 30-year anniversary.

The annual free celebration of South Asian culture, which showcases arts, crafts, music and food, will begin with the traditional small Mela in the City on Saturday which will feature performances around Grey's Monument as a taster of what's to come. Then the main event will run from Sunday to Bank Holiday Monday in Exhibition Park.

The festival always attracts crowds of around 40,000 people with its range of family attractions including dance, drumming and circus acts plus a wide range of music - from community talents to international performers and covering both traditional and contemporary styles - which over the years have featured the likes of Punjabi and bhangra as well as pop and folk music.

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This year's line-up includes Punjabi Roots and Canadian singer Raghav amongst Sunday's acts while Monday's programme will see musician Channi Singh - described as the 'godfather' of bhangra - take to the stage followed, that evening, by the award-winning Dutch star F1rstman who will wrap up the festival.

F1rstman says he will be performing all his hits for the Newcastle Mela audience and adds he "can't wait".

The festival's vibrant celebration of Pakistani, Bengali, Indian and other South Asian culture always features a range of cuisine including street food favourites and the likes of vegetarian and meat curries; biryanis, samosas and grills as well as sweet treats such as kulfi ice cream and panipuri, a snack which is one of the most common street foods in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Visitors can browse a huge range of stalls too, selling clothes, gifts and jewellery.

A spokesperson for the festival, which is organised by voluntary organisation NAAM (Newcastle Asian Arts and Music), said: "With a line-up including the hottest contemporary Asian acts, as well as traditional displays of music and dance, it’s an event which has historically appealed to all ages and races for generations."

Each day's entertainment will get under way at noon with last performances starting at 7.25pm on Sunday and 7.15pm on Monday when F1rstman will take to the spotlight. Among the first day acts will be Bonna Talukder, a singing sensation from Bangladesh due to perform around 2.45pm, followed at 4.10pm by Chahat Mahmood Ali Qawwal, who at just 21 is described as a master of Qawwali - devotional singing - and British Bhangra favourites Azaad at 5.40pm.

For more about the upcoming programme keep an eye out here.