This year another “Chand Raat” big Eid festival has been held at Minto Indoor Sports Center in Campbelltown, Sydney on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. The fair is organized by BD Hub Sydney, an expatriate Bangladeshi organization.
Chand Raat Eid Festival is the largest multicultural celebration in Australia which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Chand Raat means the night of the moon of Eid-Al-Fitr. In this way of festive mode Muslims welcome their Eid day.
The fair started at 11 am on Sunday and lasted till 11 pm.
Due to no entrance fee for the fair and having a big free parking lot facility, huge crowds were created.
Abdul Khan Ratan, general secretary of the organization said to The Daily Mark News, “We want to move forward with the Bengali community. This fair is organized for that purpose. I did not expect that much response and gathering. It is a big inspiration for us.”
He promised to make this fair even bigger every year. He also expressed his sincere gratitude and appreciation to the distinguished guests, stall holders, journalists, artists and above all the well-wishers who participated and expressed his firm determination to stay by their side in the future as well.
Many entertainment activities, and multicultural stage performances ran on the stage.
It contains a variety of stalls and community-based businesses including clothes shops, various ornaments, henna and delicious food. There was a lot of entertainment for kids, including face painting and cultural programs.
One of the buyer Sanjida Haque said to The Daily Mark News, “Bengali clothes and foods are not always available so it’s a great opportunity to get them all together in a single place. This is a family gathering occasion and this celebration represents our tradition and culture.”
In order to show solidarity in a festive atmosphere at the fair the general participants and seniors exchanged Eid greetings in advance with the members of the community including Minister for Multiculturalism Mark Currie MP, Shadow Minister for Multiculturalism and Small Businesses Steve Kamper, Federal MP for MacArthur Dr. Mike Freelander, Federal MP for Werriwa Anne Stanley, State MP for Macquarie field Anoulack Chanthivong, Councilor Ibrahim
Khalil Masud, Councilor Darcy Lound, Councilor Masud Chowdhury, Councilor Current Hunt, Councilor Sanjida Sajeda Zaman, Councilor Ray Monoto at the Bangladesh Consulate in Sydney on behalf of Campbelltown City Mayor George Grises.
It is an open multicultural event for everyone. The fair brings immense joy to the Bengali community and the sellers are also happy to sell clothes and foods as well.
