The sights, sounds and taste of different nationalities filled the air in an annual celebration of South Tyneside’s rich culture.

The fifth annual Ocean Road Mela – meaning festival in Hindi – was held on Sunday afternoon in South Shields and attracted hundreds of visitors.

The road, which is home to numerous restaurants serving cuisine from all over the world, was packed with food stalls, music, children’s activities, trade stalls, crafts, and entertainers.

The event is organised by a grass-roots collective including Bangladeshi community groups, local restaurants, South Tyneside Council, and many other partners.

Proprietors of the Star of India restaurant on Ocean Road.

placeholder image — Proprietors of the Star of India restaurant on Ocean Road.

Organisers hailed it a big success, despite some early showers.

Shah Choudhury, of one of the organisers South Tyneside Bangladeshi Catering Federation, said: “This is our fifth year, so it’s great to see everyone coming together enjoying the mela.

“There’s been a nice atmosphere, nice food and nice people coming from all different backgrounds.

“We’ve had food, clothes, hand crafts, plants, a lot of things. We had a great singing group from London playing Asian music, and diversity of different cultures.”

Left to right: Ray Spencer MBE, Green Party Cllr Rachael Taylor and Shah Choudhury.

The first Mela was held in 2021 as a celebration of South Shield’s Bangladeshi community, and has grown over the years to include other cultures in the region.

Stilt walkers, singing groups, and children’s entertainers added to the festival atmosphere.

Ray Spencer MBE, got the idea for the event during 2020’s lockdown when he was impressed with the restaurants’ community and charitable work.

Visiting on Sunday, he said: “I think it’s really important to come down to Ocean Road, which is a really iconic place in South Tyneside and celebrate one of our brilliant communities, the Bangladeshi community.

13-year-old Gracie McIntyre (centre) had a stall for her craft business GM Creations.

“They have been here for over 50 years bringing us the finest cuisine, and it’s a legendary street, so the fact we now celebrate with a mela, and there’s many other communities now join from the whole of the lower top area, come down here and we see hundreds of people enjoying great cuisine and learning about another culture.

“It’s really good that we celebrate them because they bring something so special, and so unique to South Shields.

“We are so lucky to have them here.”