Bradford Mela has received a boost - from the other side of the Atlantic.

The event, which this year takes place on June 21 and 22 and rounds off Bradford International Festival, has just been featured in the travel pages of the New York Post.

Festival director Neil Butler is delighted at the coverage which he sees as proof of the Mela's strong reputation far beyond the Bradford boundaries.

"What do you expect when you've got the biggest and best Mela around? It's great to have been mentioned in the New York Post and fantastic that Bradford is being promoted in this way," he said.

"I hope this will help encourage people from New York who are coming to England to come to the Mela."

Neil himself heard about the Mela before becoming Festival director during a trip to India.

He met people there who talked with greatest enthusiasm about the two-day event and when he was appointed to the job he received a letter from a friend, an ambassador in Switzerland, congratulating him on being involved with "one of the most important events in Europe".

"This shows that it is Bradford's many cultures which make it such an attractive place for people to visit and it is those cultures which will be the source of its regeneration."

The report in the New York Post was filed by London-based freelance journalist Rufus Purdy.

The 27-year-old has been writing for the Post for the last six months and based his piece on his personal experience of the Mela, an event he has visited for more than ten years.

"The New York Post did not need much persuading - they went for the Mela immediately," he said. David Landsel, assistant travel editor for the Post, said he was keen to include British events in the pages of the travel section, and look at things from a different angle to other US papers.

Among the stars appearing at this year's Mela, in Peel Park, are Apache Indian, Fame Academy's Lemar, Malkit Singh, Fundamental and Safri Boyz.

There will also be a fun fair, community stalls, a market area and children's entertainment.

More information can be obtained from the Festival website.