Malti Patel, who runs local Asian dance group Apsara Arts, is running the Mela's community stage again this year.

"This time there will be a little bit more music than previous years - classical Asian and Bollywood. People do like to see a lot of Asian dancers because they are so glamorous," says Malti.

"The community stage is probably the most popular, it's always packed. We have groups of women who sit there from start to finish and are our regular following. It's quite nice to have that support."

Malti says one thing she's looking forward to is a group of Sega dancers, which is a bit like Hawaiian dancing.

"Usually we have mostly Indian and Bangladeshi dancing, so this year to cover more of Asia and have Mauritian dancers is very exciting."

Malti's own dance group will also be taking to the stage again.

"Apsara Arts are having mums and children performing together. The children will be doing bhangra dancing which is really popular, and they'll be beckoning the mums to take part. The teenagers will be doing a mix of Indian classical and Bollywood dancing."

She may be busy with the community stage, but Malti's still looking forward to the rest of the festival.

"The line up is really exciting on both days. Malkit Singh keeps the crowd going with all age groups. It's nice to finish with an act everyone can move to. The nice thing over the years with the Mela is that once upon a time it was for an Asian audience but now there's a whole multi-cultural audience which says a lot about Croydon and its diversity.

There are lots of pockets of things happening through the whole year but the festival brings everyone together. Having so many diverse acts, food, and a feel like a bazaar brings more families out and Croydon needs that. And it's free - during the credit crunch people want to see things that don't cost a lot but are still fun."