EUROPE’S biggest free outdoor South Asian music and dance festival returns to Gunnersbury Park on Sunday, August 31.

Last year’s London Mela attracted 80,000 visitors and this year’s promises to be equally thrilling, taking place across nine separate zones including the main stage, BBC Asian Network new music tent, Care Pakistan Magic Mela family area and, new for 2014, the Oxfam global local stage.

Free and family-friendly, the event also boasts a fun fair, outdoor arts, a market place and food from around the world.

The London Mela is produced by Ealing Council and supported by the Mayor of London and Hounslow Council, featuring a huge variety of global artists, as well as home-grown talent.

Headline acts on the BBC Asian Network main stage include Miss Pooja, the largest-selling female bhangra artist in the world, Bollywood heartthrob, Arjun and the Justin Bieber of the Pakistan music scene, Asim Azhar.

The outdoor arts programme, meanwhile, promises to bring a touch of the Notting Hill Carnival to proceedings, with a 140-people strong procession called Utsava, drawing on the Indian and Caribbean influences from Trinidad and Tobago.

Leader of Ealing Council, Julian Bell, said: “Set in one of our most historic parks, the Mela combines English Heritage with the borough’s cultural bond with Asian communities across the world.”

Parking and access to roads around Gunnersbury Park will be restricted between 7am and 10pm on the day.

Parking along some of the roads surrounding the park will be restricted to residents only, while some will be closed to both residents and non-residents.

Signs explaining parking arrangements will be set up along all affected roads from today (Friday).

Ealing Council has provided special Mela stickers for people living in affected roads to fix to the rear-view mirror on the inside of their car by 7pm on Saturday, August 30 until 8am Monday, September 1. The sticker will allow them to access roads open to residents only during restricted hours.

Further information and the full line-up for the 2014 London Mela are available at www.londonmela.org