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Thousands turn up for 11th Chand Raat Eid Festival in Sydney
(Coverage By: Syed Zafar Hussain, Editor –in-Chief Sada-e-Watan Sydney)
The suburb of Liverpool in Sydney, New South Wales Australia lit up in excitement and joy as thousands of people came to celebrate the ending of Ramadan and start of Eid-ul-Fitr at Whitlam Leisure Centre, Liverpool on the Evening of Saturday 19th September 2009. Eid is one of biggest events on the Islamic calendar and Chand Raat Eid Festival is the most anticipated event for the Muslim community in NSW as it is the only one of its kind event in Australia. The event started at 6.00pm and ended mid night. This year more than 100 stalls were placed including traditional & designer clothing, variety of delicious food stalls, handicraft, Mehndi (Henna), jewellery, men and women accessories, photography booth, children rides and games.
People at the festival enjoyed shopping at the stalls, eating mouth-watering food and meeting family and friends. All visitors at the Chand Raat Eid Festival 2009 had the opportunity to enjoy entertaining performances on stage, Naat & Nasheed performances, raffle draws and fun-filled trivia game activities hosted by Miss Sarwat Hassan. The crowd stood to applaud the great performances by the children on stage.
Hon Laurie Ferguson, Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services and Ms Wendy Waller, the Mayor of Liverpool City Council were the respected guests of the occasion along with many other community representatives. ‘The Chand Raat Eid Festival promotes harmony and equality to recognise the achievements and acknowledge the contributions from people within our local community’, said Ms Wendy Waller, the Mayor Liverpool Council.
Hon Laurie Ferguson acknowledged the efforts of the organisers and highlighted the significance of Eid in Australia ‘ Eid ul-Fitr is celebrated by over 340 000 Muslim Australians from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds, as reflected in tonight’s festivities which include participants from the Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Afghani, Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Turkish and Lebanese communities’ he said.
As the event fell on the weekend there was an overwhelming influx of thousands of people at the Whitlam Centre and the Council Parking. At one stage the security had to stop the public entering from the memorial avenue in order to manage the huge turn of vehicles and public. When the Eid was announced to be observed on Sunday, the joys and the enthusiasm of the youth was something to watch. The young boys, shaking hands and dancing on the stage, were congratulating each others for Eid ul Fitr.
The organizers Syed Atiq ul Hassan & Mrs. Surraya Hassan acknowledged that the Chand Raat Eid Festival has grown immensely since it first commenced 11 years ago, as they have seen the event grow on a much larger scale with the event locations being changed to meet the overwhelming response and growing capacity of the event; and promised to accommodate the tens of thousands who attend the event each year.
A special award presentation was held on the night by the organisers, and awards were given by Hon Laurie Ferguson and Ms Wendy Waller to the special stall holders, sponsors and media partners who have supported the event since it first commenced. The organisers thanked all the stall holders and the major sponsors Liverpool City Council, Western Union and Zyka Restaurant for their support. The Chand Raat Eid Festival 2009 Committee thanked the entire community for their continuous support and looked forward to seeing all the community members next year on the 12th Anniversary of the Annual Chand Raat Eid Festival in 2010, which is expected to be a spectacular and extravagant celebration.
