Archives+ were invited to take a stall in the Craft Tent at the Manchester Mela.
This wonderful festival celebrating South Asian culture took place at Platt Fields on the hottest weekend of the year so far. It may have been the sunniest weekend for several years, so whilst we sweltered in the heat, it was worth it as it made for a fantastic atmosphere.
We shared our stand with the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre, one of our partners in Archives+.
We used the idea of memory bracelets as our craft activity, each bead representing a happy memory.
We took photos of the local area from our collection, going back over several decades.
The Kelly’s Street Directory from 1969 was also a big hit, as people searched for their current address. There were some surprises, where the neighbours were still the same familyor grandparents were found. Someone now living on Lever Street in the city centre realised that there were only commercial properties at that address back in the late 60s.
We wondered how busy our stall would be given the good weather and all the fantastic attractions at the Mela. We needn’t have worried!
We were entertained by poets and singers.
And we even found out where the Beatles got their inspiration from thanks to the storytellers from the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.
It was a great weekend for sharing our archives with a wider audience.
A big thank you must go to the organisers of the Mela and to the Race Relations Resource Centre staff for their help and support.
