FLAVOUR, culture and a sense of community filled a church hall as Bournemouth’s Indian Food Festival returned for its third year.
The event on Saturday, April 11, which took place at St Mark’s Church hall, saw around 20 different stalls offering visitors a mixture of authentic Indian cuisine, clothing and jewellery- as well as hosting henna and face paint stands.
The church hall was filled with flavour, culture and members of the public enjoying some of their favourite meals.
Meghana and daughter Samyra (Image: NQ)
Meghana Khadi, founder and managing director of Indo UK Shopping Hub, said she started the hub to give a stage to businesses.
She said: “I was looking to buy Indian clothing and couldn’t find anything, so I thought why not set something up and give a stage to people.
“We’ve done events in London, Reading and Bournemouth.”
Meghana added that some businesses had travelled down from London for the Bournemouth festival.
Discussing the events third year, she said: “It’s great to bring the community together.
“I see that there’s a lot of love for Indian food, so why not bring them all together.
“People get to try authentic Indian food.”
Logesh, Malli and Arun (Image: NQ)
The event saw a lot of people showcase dishes from their home kitchens, one of these being Madras Spices.
Madras showcases traditional south Indian home cooked meals, with Arun and Logesh saying that they are very passionate about the food.
They said: “We started last year in 2025. We’re passionate about the food for the community.”
Komal and family with Street Twist team (Image: NQ)
Also providing food from a home kitchen was Komal from Street Twist.
Komal said she started cooking when she had her baby in 2019 and wanted to keep busy.
Since this time, her home kitchen meals have become well known in the area.
She said: “I decided to start when I had my first baby.
“I did not expect it to grow this much, I never realised I could be someone who wanted to cook.”
Rishike, Flavours Hut (Image: NQ)
Described by Meghana as another other hard-working woman with her own home kitchen business, Flavours Hut, is Rishike.
The Bournemouth-based business has attended the event every year and provides daily evening meals as well as catering orders, keeping her very busy while raising two children at the same time.
Mina, Chamak (Image: NQ)
Stepping away from the cuisine, Mina had travelled from London to the event to showcase her business, Chamak, which is an Indian handcraft business.
Mina has had her business for three years and works with families in India who handmake her art and décor pieces, adding that many in London describe her business as a ‘one stop shop’.
She said: “It has been really good, people want something different.
“I like to share the story with everyone, so people know they’re buying ethically.”
Paurush with his Bullion business (Image: NQ)
Paurush had also travelled from near London, selling his Bullion mouth fresheners, digestives and scented supari, with many health benefits between them.
He said: “I like the products, It’s something that I have been using myself.
“There’s a market for it.”
