- Edmonton’s Muslim Heritage Day Festival is returning for its second year to promote understanding of Islamic faith.
- The festival is expected to attract around 7000 visitors
- The event includes an anti-Islamophobia awareness campaign
Crowds of people of all ages and faiths are coming together next Saturday to celebrate the second Muslim Heritage Day Festival, an event planned to promote a better understanding of Islamic faith.
The event, planned at Sir Winston Churchill Square on Saturday, is expected to attract about 7000 visitors.
“There’s a lot of misconceptions about Islam that we need to eliminate,” Fawwaz Hameed, a member of the marketing team for the festival, told CBC News.
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“And hopefully by having an event like this, people will come out.
“They’ll see the culture, they’ll see the history. And then they’ll realize that maybe these people aren’t as bad as we thought.”
In Edmonton, the Muslim population is around 84,635 people, according to the 2021 national census.
Educating Non-Muslims
As the Muslim population continues to grow, Hameed believes it is beneficial to educate non-Muslims on the basics of Islam, such as fasting Ramadan and the five daily prayers.
“It’s important for an employer to know that so that they can give the proper time off for their employees if they’re Muslim to fulfil their religious responsibility,” said Hameed.
He added, “it’s more important to have non-Muslims attend this kind of event because it’s designed to be a resource for them and for them to reach out to.”
On the day of the festival, an anti-Islamophobia awareness campaign will be launched at city hall.
The campaign is run by Sisters Dialogue, a non-profit organization working to address issues that affect Muslim women in Edmonton.
“People’s Islamophobic or negative views of Muslims are reduced when they know, have friends, or have Muslims within their circles,” said Wati Rahmat, the founder of Sisters Dialogue.
The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) Edmonton organized the first Muslim Heritage day festival on August 20th at the Sir Winston Churchill Square Park.