(July 17, 2011) – An African American Muslim, Jewish Indian and a Christian Arab walk into Celebration Square in Mississauga.

At least they will next weekend.

“It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke,” Amer Meknas, MuslimFest Event Director muses, “and we hope that will get the community to take notice.”

In its 8^th year, MuslimFest celebrates the best of Muslim art, culture and entertainment with a greater goal of bridging the gap between the Muslim community and our neighbours in Canada.

“Art in all forms – visual, performance, comedic, food – brings people together, and that is our focus.  We hope that MuslimFest becomes a vehicle to bring the entire community together to share and learn from one another,” Meknas elaborates.

This year’s MuslimFest, July 23-24, 2011, boasts performances and/or hosting by international stars Junaid Jamshed (Pakistan), Le Rappel (France) and HBO’s Def Poetry Carlos Andres Gomez(USA) along side local Canadian talent, Moez Melon (Montreal), Waseem Mo Money (Ottawa) and CBC’s Muhammad Lila (Toronto).

Program Director, Shakera Nagil, says “This family friendly events aims to be a non-stop celebration of Muslim creativity.  Throughout the day there will be opportunities to peruse the festival favourite art exhibit, catch a screening of Fordson or Mooz-lum, and watch up-and-coming talent compete in the Rising Talent competition.

The MuslimFest team is also extremely excited to be moving to Celebration Square in the heart of Mississauga.

“We are really excited to be at Celebration Square! It’s a state-of-the-art facility and just felt like a natural progression for MuslimFest.  Moving to the completely outdoor venue means we are more accessible, both physically and financially, given that all the programming is now at a barrier-free facility and free of charge,” explains Taha Ghayyur, MuslimFest board of director member.

Meanwhile, MuslimFest completed a successful festival in Montreal at Concordia University’s Loyola Campus last Saturday. Poet, Amir Sulaiman and comedian, Waseem Mo Money were two of the featured attractions at the event.

The festival included spoken word and comedy performances, an indoor and outdoor concert, a rising talent show, an outdoor bazaar, and a calligraphy and art display.

~

MONTREAL’S MUSLIMFEST ~ July 16, 2011

{photo credit: Umar Nasir, IQRADOTca photojournalist}

For Full Size Images Check out our Facebook Fan Page Below.