The Oslo City Council has proposed cutting funding for Oslo Mela by 1.5 million kroner. If the proposed cuts are implemented, it will have dramatic consequences for the festival.
For 25 years, Oslo Mela has been a unique meeting place in the heart of Oslo. The festival began as a desire to give immigrants in Norway the opportunity to showcase their art and culture, and has today grown into an important meeting place that brings together music, food and people from all over the world and the city. From the very beginning, we have also been committed to Mela being free for the public, and therefore we have become a festival where we can experience, create and share art and culture with people of all ages and many different backgrounds. We are both sad and shocked that the city council does not see the value in the work we do and the importance the festival has for the city and for our audience.
"The festival we cannot afford to lose," Dagsavisen wrote in a comment last August, and we very much hope that we can now find a solution so that we can hold a folk festival at Rådhusplassen in August 2027.
Also Melahuset receives grants from the Municipality of Oslo, but here it is proposed that the support be continued at the same level as before.
Several media outlets have also picked up on the issue of the city council's cut proposals: