Support for festival humbling

This year’s Eid al-Adha multicultural festival went so well the organisers want it to become even bigger next year and get other groups on board.

More than 3000 people attended yesterday’s festivities at the Edgar Centre to celebrate Eid al-Adha which is the second of the two main festivals in Islam.

Event co-ordinator and president of the Pakistan Community of Otago Anam Nawaz said she was humbled by the sheer amount of support.

‘‘We we had the Chinese performance, an African performance, a Punjabi performance, a Japanese performance, and we had an art competition for the children, and there was live quizzes, so lots of things happening.

‘‘I think it was a success because of how different communities, not just the Muslim communities but the non-Muslim communities as well ... we all got together and we celebrated together even though it was a Muslim event.’’

There were more than 20 food stalls and an array of events for children, and Ms Nawaz was pleased with the ‘‘family’’ atmosphere, particularly as it occurred on King’s Birthday.

‘‘We might go for even bigger events, but we might go for a combined event. For example, if it is an Eid event, we could go together with different communities and do a combined event, maybe next year.’’

matthew.littlewood@odt.co.nz