MuslimFest, the largest Muslim festival of North America, is coming this weekend to London, Ontario, for the first time in the event’s history.
After 14 years of successful events, the Islamic Center of Southwest Ontario in London will bring arts and music festival to the city next Sunday, October 25.
“It’s a festival with the diverse Islamic cultural flavor,” Munir El-Kassem, director of religious affairs at the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario in London, said of the event, Sarnia & Lambton This Week reported.
“It brings talent from across Canada in singing, spoken word and other arts.”
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Coming in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, which affected different events around the world, the Islamic center will host a drive-in event with public guidelines to protect visitors.
“We have to observe all safety measures,” El-Kassem said. “As such, people will be enjoying the show from the comfort and safety of their own vehicles.”
The event, open to all Londoners, has a capacity for up to 200 vehicles.
“This is open not only to people who subscribe to the Islamic faith, but everyone is welcome.”
This event will also test possibilities of bringing the festival to other parts of Ontario province.
“We are excited that the first time (organizers) went out of the GTA, they came to London,” he said.
“That may encourage them in future years to explore other cities as well.”
History of Success
MuslimFest is one of Ontario’s top 100 festivals and is listed among the Top 40 Best festivals in North America by FlightNetwork.com.
Launched in 2004, MuslimFest is a joint project of DawaNet and Sound Vision. Today, it is considered North America’s largest Muslim festival of its kind, attracting over 30,000 attendees annually.
In addition, the event has received various local and national recognition recently. This include the Best Social Media Campaign and Best Greening of Festival awards.
For years, the event has served as a unique cultural fusion that combines faith traditions and Canadian culture.
Also, the festival was recognized by City of Mississauga for their #WasteFreeMuslimFest campaign.
In 2017, they diverted tonnes of garbage away from landfill by recycling and separating compostable waste at the Waste Station thanks to the festival’s dedicated Green Team.