10th Annual Brick Lane Curry Festival: 21st May - 4 June 2010 Cobra Beer's Mela Monday 31st May 2010, from 12pm until late The Vibe Bar, Old Truman Brewery 91 - 95 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL www.vibe-bar.co.uk Free entry to all - R.O.A.R Free sampling of The Best Curry on Brick Lane will take place between 1-3pm. Limited free samples of Cobra Beer will be handed out to over-18s between 2-3pm. Proof of ID may be requested and a maximum of one sample will be provided per person.

Friday 21st May sees the return of the Brick Lane Curry Festival, a two week celebration to honour the vibrancy of Asian culture and cuisine. Running until 4th June, the festival enjoys its tenth consecutive year in London’s curry hub, Brick Lane. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the festival, the multitude of restaurants that line Brick Lane will join to present a sensational array of delicious menus, exclusive offers, live entertainment, and to witness the Capital’s curry lovers vote for the Best Curry on Brick Lane.

Activities and offers scheduled across the fortnight include:

• The Best of Brick Lane Awards (Thursday 19th May) – Annual awards to recognise the achievements and service to curry lovers of the restaurants along Brick Lane. Winners have been selected by self-acclaimed curry connoisseurs, who mystery shopped the restaurants along Brick Lane to pull together this year’s winners that include:
  • Best Presentation: Masala Restaurant
  • Best Service: Brick Lane Brasserie House of Spice
  • Best Interior Decoration: Mango Restaurant
  • Best Cobra Served: Muhib Indian Cuisine
  • Best Value: Clifton Tandoori
  • The ultimate award, for ‘The Best Curry on Brick Lane’, will be decided by the public at Vibe Cobra’s ‘Mela’ celebration at the Vibe Bar on 31st May – Bank Holiday Monday.
• Baisakhi Mela in Banglatown (Sunday, 23rd May) – The largest celebration of the Bangla New Year outside of Asia. The community celebration will see Brick Lane pedestrianised and taken over by live music, performance and dancing in the streets. Visit www.baishakhimela.org.uk for further information
  
• Cobra Beer’s ‘Mela’ at the Vibe Bar (Bank Holiday Monday, 31st May) – An all day festival that blends live music from acclaimed international artists including Bobby Friction and Nerm, dynamic Bollywood dancing and authentic Indian cuisine. The Vibe Bar will also play host to the climax of The Best of Brick Lane Awards, where the public will be invited to sample and crown the People’s Choice Brick Lane Curry 2010.
  
• Special menus and discounts (throughout the festival) – Participating restaurants will be offering special festival menus and a 20% discount for the duration of the celebrations.

Sponsored by Cobra, the Brick Lane festivities have earned a reputation for being one of the country’s largest and most spectacular street parties and regularly attract more than 60,000 curry fans. With a fifth (18%)* of Brits rating curry as their favourite meal, and the nation spending £400 million** on curry every week, it’s unsurprising that the festival is so popular.

Lord Karan Bilimoria, Founder and Chairman of Cobra Beer, said: “Brick Lane is a wonderful and vibrant melting pot of culture and cuisine and we are delighted to support all the restaurants participating in this year’s event. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the restaurants on Brick Lane that have continued to support Cobra Beer from day one, for which we are truly grateful.”

Bajloor Rashid, President of the Banglasdeshi Caterers Association (BCA), said: “British-Bangladeshi restaurants have played a major part in putting Brick Lane on the map for the UK’s curry connoisseurs, and the festival is a wonderful opportunity for all to enjoy and celebrate the local community.”

* All figures sourced from research compiled by Red Shift in October 2009, surveying 2,157 UK consumers. ** Based on the UK adult population of 45 million (87% who eat curry) with average weekly spend of £8.90 per person

About The Cobra Beer Partnership

The Cobra Beer Partnership is a joint venture company that combines the brewing, selling and marketing expertise of the highly successful international brewer Molson Coors, with Cobra Beer’s iconic brand and strong presence in ethnic restaurants and off-trade. Formed in May 2009, the Cobra Beer Partnership is chaired by Cobra Beer’s founder, Lord Karan Bilimoria with the day to day operations managed by Molson Coors (UK).

First imported into the UK in 1990, Cobra Beer is one of the UK's fastest growing premium beer brands and is now one of the strongest and best known brands in the world beer category. Cobra was created as an exotic beer with less fizz, making it the perfect accompaniment to curry, and is a great addition to the UK’s most diverse beer portfolio at Molson Coors (UK).

Molson Coors (UK) has over 2,000 employees in the UK and breweries in Burton on Trent, Alton and Tadcaster. It is the UK arm of Molson Coors, the Global Family Brewer and has a market share of over 20% of the UK beer market. Our portfolio includes Carling, the UK's best selling lager for three decades, Coors Light, Grolsch, Worthington's, Caffrey's, Sol, Cobra and a range of speciality beers.

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