THE cancellation of this year’s Swindon Mela should come as a major blow to the town.

It is a shame that one of the summer’s brightest, busiest and most exciting events will not now be taking place.

And it is a shame that there seems to be confusion between the organisers and Swindon council over available dates to stage the event.

The main reason for it being called off, though, is lack of funds, brought about primarily by a poor turnout last year due to the bad weather. But the increased cost of staging the event has, according to Swindon Mela director Jaspal Bhui, eaten into cash reserves. “The cost just spiralled far too high,” he said.

This is a great pity, as for several years the Mela has been a major event on the Swindon calendar, with hundreds of people turning out to enjoy, Indian food and drink, buy goods at a wide variety of stalls, and enjoy live music and dancing.

It’s an event that is good for the town, it brings people in and generates interest and income. That is something clearly recognised by the council, which has worked with the Mela organisers to keep the event running.

Mr Bhui said a date for this year had not been confirmed – he said the council “pencilled in” August 2.

“We can’t go ahead and book anything on a pencilled-in date,” he said.

But the council says August 2 was always available and is puzzled that there is a suggestion that the date was never confirmed.

A meeting between the council and organisers is due to take place tomorrow – we hope that meeting will still go ahead, and all parties start singing off the same songsheet to make sure that if the Mela doesn’t happen this year, then it will certainly be revived for 2015.