In Luton, Eid-al-Adha was celebrated a fortnight ago with thousands of people coming out to enjoy affordable fun fair rides and plenty of family entertainment for all ages at Lewsey Farm Inspire Eid Festival– presented by Inspire FM and 1Eid festival celebrations in Wardown Park and Stockwood Park.
Last weekend on 8th July 2023, another Colors of Eid Festival, an outdoor extravaganza event was held at Luton Town Centre Market Hill, with lots of traditional music, poetry, and singing. All faiths and communities were welcomed to try the delights of locally made traditional food and sweet treats and get a traditional mehndi (henna) design and enjoy the costume display. An opening procession from the Town Hall to the Market Hill Stage was led by Luton’s traditional Desi Bhangra Dhol Drummers, Dhols Royce.
Colors of Eid Festival was organised by Sarah Salim, a British-Pakistani visual artist, and founding director of ALIF New Beginnings, an arts organisation that aims to celebrate and promote Islamic arts and culture across all art disciplines.
In 2022, Sarah worked with the UKCCA (UK Centre for Carnival Arts) based in Luton, to create Luton’s first Eid parade performance. She said this year we have tried to grow it to the next stage and so we put together stage performances, free of charge, including Qawwali (a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing) and performances from children groups and by inspirational speakers like Dr. Nazia Khan OBE DL, Chair of the United Nations Association, Luton Branch and the champion of human rights, education, and equalities. She spoke of the importance of multi-agency involvement and alliances for sustainable community engagement, development, and cohesion in our super-diverse town Luton.
Eid al-Adha is known as the ‘festival of sacrifice’. It commemorates the prophet Ibrahim’s devotion to God. To honour God’s commandment, Ibrahim (also known as Abraham in Judaism & Christianity), was prepared to sacrifice even his son, Ismail. Miraculously, God replaced Ismail with a lamb to sacrifice instead. Muslims therefore worldwide celebrate the festival by carrying out a ‘Qurbani’ (Arabic word) meaning “sacrifice”, which typically means donating two-thirds of the festivities to the poor or vulnerable people, and only one-third kept for family use.
It is the second largest and most significant religious festival celebrated by millions of Muslims, around the world. It also coincides with the completion of Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, which all able-bodied Muslim adults are expected to accomplish at least once in their lifetimes.
Sarah Salim (L), a British-Pakistani visual artist was the key organiser of the Colors of Eid Festival in Luton held on Sat 8th July 2023 at Luton Market Hill.
Daf Zikir Drums delivered a spectacular performance using a middle-eastern frame drum called ‘Daf’ setting the scene for storytelling by Rumi’s Cave, a community arts organisation inspired by the legacy of 13th-century Persian poet & mystic Jalauddin Rumi.
Luton-based Calligraphy artist Abu Yahya created an original piece live on stage exclusively for the Colours of Eid Festival on 8th Jul’23 in Luton Market Hill. Abu is a contemporary artist whose practice crosses Islamic calligraphy traditions with painting and sculpture. He uses wisdom or writers, poets, and philosophers from around the world to convey messages of peace and to underline the commonalities of human existence.
‘The Pakistani Truck Art’ was displayed on mobility scooters that also featured in Luton International Carnival 2023. All showcasing the creativity of Islamic culture and celebrating the community of Luton! These were included in The Act of Kindness Parade that left from the Town Hall making its way up George St to Market Hill, as part of Colours of Eid Festival held in Luton.