Celebrating... with 1.8 billion others
John Clark of ABC11 Eyewitness News | WTVD wrote last year in 2010 in his Faith Blog....
It may be the biggest local festival you’ve never heard of.
This Saturday, an estimated 3 to 4 thousand people will pack into the Koka Booth Amphitheatre for the fourth annual Cary Eid Festival.
"They will see a festival without borders,” says Dr. Nadeem Iqbal, the festival’s founder. “The whole idea was really to present the Eid, which is celebrated by 1.8 billion people in a hundred countries on all continents and really nobody knows about it."
The Cary Eid Festival (pronounced Eed) is a celebration of two joy-filled Muslim holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The first marks the end of the Islamic holy month Ramadan. The second Eid comes about two months later when millions of Muslims make their pilgrimage to Mecca. Organizers of the Cary festival are celebrating both Eids with one big event – open to all.
“They have religious origins but there's actually a very cultural segment,” says Iqbal, who helped organize the first event in Cary in 2007. “It's celebrated all over the world, and the basic idea was that we wanted to bridge the communities of various faiths, beliefs and practices by celebrating the Eid as an American holiday event in this area."
Expect to see food, music, dance and other cultural presentations from more than 20 different countries. There will also be arts & crafts and kid-friendly attractions. The town of Cary is a major sponsor, along with more than two dozen local businesses. This video clip gives you some of the flavor of last year’s Festival.
And although fun and celebration will be the order of the day, Dr. Iqbal hopes festival-goers will come away with something more.
"The whole idea is that in every culture and every religion, the majority of the people want to live in peace and harmony with the society that they live in. This will be a life-changing experience because of the current situation with the Muslim faith particularly. And I hope that they take home good memories and faith that there are people who really would like to live in peace and prosperity."