It may be the biggest local festival you’ve never heard of.
This Saturday, an estimated 3 to 4 thousand people will pack into the Koka Booth Amphitheatre for the fourth annual Cary Eid Festival.
"They will see a festival without borders,” says Dr. Nadeem Iqbal, the festival’s founder. “The whole idea was really to present the Eid, which is celebrated by 1.8 billion people in a hundred countries on all continents and really nobody knows about it."
The Cary Eid Festival (pronounced Eed) is a celebration of two joy-filled Muslim holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The first marks the end of the Islamic holy month Ramadan. The second Eid comes about two months later when millions of Muslims make their pilgrimage to Mecca. Organizers of the Cary festival are celebrating both Eids with one big event – open to all.
“They have religious origins but there's actually a very cultural segment,” says Iqbal, who helped organize the first event in Cary in 2007. “It's celebrated all over the world, and the basic idea was that we wanted to bridge the communities of various faiths, beliefs and practices by celebrating the Eid as an American holiday event in this area."
Expect to see food, music, dance and other cultural presentations from more than 20 different countries. There will also be arts & crafts and kid-friendly attractions. The town of Cary is a major sponsor, along with more than two dozen local businesses. This video clip gives you some of the flavor of last year’s Festival.
And although fun and celebration will be the order of the day, Dr. Iqbal hopes festival-goers will come away with something more.
"The whole idea is that in every culture and every religion, the majority of the people want to live in peace and harmony with the society that they live in. This will be a life-changing experience because of the current situation with the Muslim faith particularly. And I hope that they take home good memories and faith that there are people who really would like to live in peace and prosperity."
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Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel visits the Triangle this weekend for two events sponsored by North Carolina Hillel, the statewide Jewish campus organization. The internationally known Holocaust survivor and humanitarian will lecture tomorrow at UNC-Chapel Hill, then speak again tomorrow night at a benefit dinner in Pittsboro. More details here.
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Today at noon, hundreds of local attorneys, judges, and government officials will celebrate Mass at Raleigh’s Sacred Heart Cathedral. The Raleigh Diocese’s annual “Red Mass” takes its name from the red vestments worn by the priests and has special significance for those in the legal and governmental communities. Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC, will be the Principal Celebrant today and will give the homily.
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Two big names in the evangelical community come to North Carolina next week. Contemporary Christian megastar Steven Curtis Chapman will be at Durham’s King's Park International Church for a concert Thursday night. And California megachurch pastor David Jeremiah speaks on “the coming economic Armageddon” Thursday night at the Greensboro Coliseum.
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Students at Fayetteville’s Village Christian Academy got a surprise visitor this week: NBA great Michael Jordan, who spoke to the students on the importance of education.
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Finally, a Johnston County church says it’s looking to its past in order to preserve its future. Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Baptist Church will hold its first Harvest Day in 59 years. It used to be a big deal in the rural community of Thanksgiving, where once a year farmers and others would bring their best to the church lawn for sale at auction. The proceeds would go to the church. Thanksgiving Baptist sponsored Harvest Day every year from 1936 through 1951 as a way to generate funds for its ministries. During those hard Depression years, one Harvest Day could bring in ten times the church’s annual budget! You can experience a modern version at the church tomorrow from noon to six.
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