Sunday, July 24, 2011

MuslimFest 2011

On Saturday, we headed to Celebration Square, Mississauga for MuslimFest, 2011.


There were various activities throughout the day, but there were two main highlights of the day.

First up ... as the trailer promised, there were camels.


Second, but before we could get to that, it started to rain. And boy, did it come pouring down!



However, the star of the evening, Pakistan's famous Junaid Jamshed, wasn't going to let a little thing like a torrential downpour stop him. Though his popstar days were behind him, the nasheed singer knew how to work the crowd.


Soon, people were singing to "Dil dil Pakistan" with him in the rain.



The rain stopped, and the sun then started to shine brightly on the crowd, which Junaid regaled with stories of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), interspersed with hamds and nasheeds in his praise.





It was great to see a lot of volunteers at this venue, helping run and coordinate a smooth event for the 10,000+ attendees over both days.


Other than the performances (such as comedy, free movies) and attractions (such as Reptile Exhibition), there's also the famous bazaar scene.





Over all, it's a great event, and best of all, this year it was FREE.


So next time you are in town during this time, do check out MuslimFest.

13 comments:

Lat said...

This looks like fun! Glad you enjoyed it.With Ramadan in the corner,bazars and programmes are propping out here and there.It adds to a variety of colour and joy around us.

Wish you a happy Ramadan bro! There's just one week left and I've got lots to prepare! :)

Amer Meknas - MuslimFest Event Director said...

Thank you very much for posting this :) I am really glad that you have enjoyed your time with us at MuslimFest :) Keep us in your prayers - Amer

Amer Meknas - MuslimFest Event Director said...

Thank you very much for posting this :) I am really glad that you have enjoyed your time with us at MuslimFest :) Keep us in your prayers - Amer

nadia said...

Looks like you're having fun with your brand new zoom lens :)

Love the pictures, Mezba!

Jumain Jamshed will always remind me of Dil Dil Pakistan.

mezba said...

@Lat, Yup, Ramadan here is like a festive time, with our large community (mashAllah) and the involvment people have with their mosques.

Here's to a good Ramadan for everyone.

@Amer Maknas, you guys should be congratulated for the great event you guys put up! Here's hoping this event gets bigger and bigger.

@Nadia, I love the zoom lens, I think every photographer should have one in their arsenal. :-)

mezba said...

Nadia, just linked to a video of the event on my fb page.

Az said...

Looks like it was a great day :)

mezba said...

@Azra, it was!

mezba said...

My picture ("Dil Dil Pakistan in the Rain") is selected as one of top 4 for the MuslimFest 2011 Best Picture Competition. Please go and vote ("Like") my picture!

Full disclosure: The other pictures are all equally great.

Misha said...

Wow these photographs are great! I've never been to Muslim Fest (I feel it's more directed towards a younger audience, no?) but I'm glad it went so well.

P.S. Thank GOD it finally rained in Toronto! I'm in the U.S. and fingers crossed that our grass is getting lots of water!

'liya said...

Great pictures - this is the first thing I noticed! Pictures look like they're part of a magazine article, well done! :)

Have still to check out Celebration Square, drive by it every day and it looks good.

Asma Khan said...

Nice post.... :)
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mezba said...

@Misha, MuslimFest seemed to have something for everyone - I thought it was more for the younger to young adult audiences (24 years and below), but families were there and every one had a good time.

@Liya, oh thank you so much for those comments! I am enjoying my new lenses.

@Asma, thank you and welcome to my blog.