Story:Wajdi Raweh
Fir Vale Festival took place on 9th of September at Fir Vale School. This event seemed well organised and the presence of people was good. I noticed lots of happy faces. A lot of those present were young people, and they created a wonderful atmosphere, especially the young people from Slovakia who were dancing spontaneously, and running and laughing as they enjoyed the event. I went to speak to some of the stall holders about what they thought of the festival.
Sadia Nazir and Najam Hussain, were doing Henna painting,and selling Islamic names in calligraphy.
“This is the second time we had been to the Festival. We think the event is important because it gathers different cultures and people from different ethnic backgrounds. It increases the knowledge of how other people and cultures produce things, like art.”
Nabeel Nazir of the Hussain Brothers, had not been to the festival before but thought it was a good way to show people his new shop based at 4 Owler Lane, selling hair care products, as well as groceries and hardware:
“We want to let people know how cheaply they can buy products from us. It’s helping us get our business known.”
Imran Ali brought Islamic books and references including the Quran, he was giving them away for free for people who want to learn about Islamic culture. He gave about ten Qurans away. Imran said,
“I want to explain to people what Islamic culture is about.”
The presence of the young people and the role they’ve played in the festival showed the positive response they have to good things available for them to take part in. The festival also offers a great opportunity for those who would like to promote their businesses. It certainly is a great place for all those people who have only recently started their own businesses and are looking to recruit customers.
The presence of the police officers was not necessary in my opinion, it would’ve been better if they were not in uniform and just joined in the fun with everyone else. We don’t want to make the presence of the police a habit, it would better to have security people, than the police.