Sydney Eid Festival 2013 (Eid Al-Fitr) Coverage

A well anticipated celebration, a long-awaited festival, a gathering to remember. The 11^th of August 2013 at 10:00 am marked the beginning of a fun-filled journey for visitors of varying cultural backgrounds. The young, the old, the men, women and children all made their way to Paul Keating Park to rejoice in happiness and celebrate the festive occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. It was a glorious event that beyond doubt brought together Australians from a variety of cultural backgrounds to celebrate, to unite and to commemorate.

2MFM Staff in Action Gallery
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As one of the most anticipated events on the multicultural calendar, the Sydney Eid Festival is one of cultural entertainment, harmony in moderation and exquisite vibe. The Eid festival is an event of tremendous joy and supreme happiness that marks memorable, golden moments of loud fanfare, heartfelt reunions, cheerful greetings and bright relaxation.

The day fostered a climate of warmth, togetherness and openness as Muslims greeted each other with kindness, and exchanged their best wishes to each other, a sentiment which reflected one of the key features of the Sydney Eid festival, a promotion of culture, friendship and harmony.

A large number of individuals stated that they travelled for hours and hours just to be a part of this exhilarating event, only to realise it was truly a wonderful decision to make, one of true contentment and delight. 

Even those who were unable to attend had insight onto the structure of the show through the live coverage of the celebration via 2MFM.  The crowd consisted of excited kids who attended to play on to stimulating ride, the mothers who visited to seek entertainment for their children, the fathers who joined a circle of communication and most importantly the families who gathered to take a seat and enjoy the joyous Eid festival.

With the engaging program put together for the Eid festival, 2MFM played an incredible role in making this event a success. From the very beginning the enthusiastic crowd bombarded the stand of 2MFM, eager to meet the crew and purchase their favourite chants.

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The festival united the Australian Community under the banner of moderation and harmony, which was reflected onto the magnificent attendance, one that was colourful and richly diverse. This was clearly manifested through the rays of sunlight and glare reflected onto the venue which became full with Muslims of diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.  The crowd took pleasure in the impressive live stage performances of the Islamic Charity Projects Association Band, who lit up the stage with an extravagant presentation of chants.

A few hours into the event, the director of 2MFM, Mr Khayat, took to the stage and delivered heart-warming speech in which he spoke about the exciting successes of 2MFM in the year 2013. The speech introduces the crowd to the growing ethnic program broadcasted on the station, teamed with the continuous bilingual shows provided for listeners:  

 “ This year, 2MFM has managed to extend the boundaries of programming opportunities by providing listeners of varying cultures and languages on air time. Varying programs this year have switched from being of monolingual in nature to a bilingual setting. 2MFM has given voice to Urdu, Turkish, Indonesian, Malaysian, African, Harrarian, English and Arabic backgrounds by providing occasions where presenters reach out to their listeners in specified languages.  This has added to the success of 2MFM in reaching out to meet the community needs, especially through the dedication to ethnic programs and chants. This continuous work in targeting community interests has earned the station certificates of recognition adding to the database of certificates, achievements and successes of the station. 2MFM always strives to attract the community’s interests by providing an accessible medium for them.

Mr Khayat then extended his regards to those 2MFM volunteers studying to attain the Certificate III in media delivered by the community media training organisation. He concluded his speech by commending staff and volunteers for their dedication and hard work in making 2MFM   “the radio station it is today, The voice of Moderation, Your voice and Australia’s Number 1 Muslim Community Radio Station.”

Shortly after, the Muslim Community Radio presenters took the stage to draw the names of the winners who had joined the Ramadan programs over the duration of four weeks on the 2MFM 92.1 air waves. Paul Keating Park was filled with bliss as hundreds of people listened to the names of many winners who won brilliant prizes.

To begin, Kids show presenters Miss Awad, Miss Zahr, Mrs El Mir announced the names of those who won a tablet, cash prizes and participation prizes due to their participation in the kids show competition, a completion that inspired kids to learn and memorise important religious statements. Excited young individuals raced their way over to the stage to collect their prize and demonstrate their extreme happiness on stage. Further, those kids who joined the show throughout the month were also given a chance to win lovely gifts. The happiness and excitement of those kids was demonstrated in the way they sat in front of the stage waiting to hear the names of the winners.  The crowd also lit up with astonishment as a four year old participant of the kids show amazed everyone with her recitation of one of the 17 Ahadith and ayat that she memorized. She was extremely endearing, with her soft and gentle voice and successful ability to recite the Ahadith she learnt on 2MFM’s kids show.

Following the commotion of the kids show prizes, Miss N.Zahr, Ms Nafeh and Mrs Maarbani expressed their warm welcoming to the crowd and announced the winners of the valuable and treasured prizes.

Likewise Mrs Alwan and Mrs Houmaysi, the presenters of the Arabic show delivered in the mornings of Ramadan shook the crowd with their exceptional giveaways as enthusiastic faces accompanied those who ran up to collect their prize on stage.

Lastly, the crowd braced themselves for the long awaited announcement of the major 2MFM prizes given to those who joined the evening bilingual shows presented by  Mr Halaby, Mr El Hage, Mr Nachar, Mr Hammoud, Mr Abboud, Mr Zahab & and Mr Skaf . Listeners from varying cultures sat in anticipation amongst their family members waiting to see if they were winners. Loud burst of happiness erupted in the crowd as winders raced to the stage to embrace the winning sensation.

Indeed, the festival ended in a memorable manner as drummers filled the grounds of Paul Keating Park to display an artistic drumming presentation that pleases the crowd. It was clear that the crowd was reluctantly fading away as they hoped the festival lasted for longer than a day. The Sydney Eid Festival without a doubt filled happiness in the hearts of those who attended and those who listened in.  It exemplifies the benefits of unity in moderation and social cohesion.

We at 2MFM thank all those who sincerely contributed to the success of the day and ask Allah for their wellbeing and blessing. Eid Mubarak to all and many happy returns.