Hundreds of faithful gathered at Christchurch’s Cowles Stadium to offer Eid prayers on the morning of Monday, June 26.
Later that day, the Pakistani Association of Canterbury NZ (PACNZ), organised the first mass Eid celebration in the city at St Martins Anglican Church with almost 240 community members attending. “The highlight was an Eid-quiz, which was organised to educate the younger ones on the importance of Ramadan and it's culmination in Eid,” noted Mr Kalim Khan, PACNZ's President.
Meanwhile, the wider community will have a chance to celebrate Eid together this weekend with three mass celebrations coming up. First is the event organised by the Canterbury Muslim Community Trust on July 1, from 1pm, at the Fendalton Community Centre. This will be followed by Indian Cultural Group's event from 7pm at the Halswell Centre.
The celebrations will conclude the next day, on July 2, with Muslim Association of Canterbury's (MAC) Eid community potluck event being organised at the city's Masjid Al Noor. “There will be nasheeds, henna painting, kids games and prize presentations. As Canterbury's Muslim community has representations from over 40 different ethnicities, we have requested the members to come in their traditional costumes,” the organisers said.