In a year which has held so much conflict in the Middle East, an Iranian family living in Dunedin decided to share in the peace and harmony of the annual Dunedin Community Christmas Dinner yesterday.
Hamed Peyhani (33), Negin Khadem (32) and their 3-year-old daughter Mehrsa Peyhani are a Muslim family, but, unusually, it failed to stop them from taking part in the Christian celebration of Christmas.
''It's not very common to celebrate Christmas in Iran.
''Yes, we are Muslim. But for us, we respect the Christianity religion.
''It is the day Jesus Christ was born. It's a day worth celebrating.''
Mr Peyhani said there had been so much fighting in the Middle East in recent years, and attending the Christmas dinner was a way for him and his family to bring a little peace to the world, by sharing in another culture and religion.
''The amazing thing for us is we see a lot of people from around the world, living here - we see people with different culture and religion living together without any problems. It is very amazing for us to see.
''To me, the Middle East is not as nice a place as it was 20 to 30 years ago.''
The family have been in Dunedin for the past 18 months while Mr Peyhani studies for a PhD in computer engineering at the University of Otago.
They were among about 500 people at the Christmas dinner this year.
Event co-ordinator Anne Hardy said there were people from all walks of life there.
''A lot of people perhaps don't have anyone to share Christmas with on Christmas Day, so we aim to make this a special day for them.''
On the menu was roast hogget, roast pork, roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables - all with gravy. For dessert, there was plum pudding, custard, pavlova and fruit salad.
And for those who had room left at the end, there was tea and coffee.
