LINDENHURST, NY — The Town of Babylon will make history on Saturday.
The first ever “Muslim Heritage Festival”, a multicultural celebration including the Islamic faith and will take place at the Town Hall Park, located at 200 E. Sunrise Highway in Lindenhurst from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event is hosted by a partnership of the Town and the American Muslims of Suffolk County.
Lamiaa Elkoulily, founder and president of the organization, said that about 80 food trucks and merchandise vendors such as clothes, jewelry, our perfume.
Find out what's happening in Lindenhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
There will also be free raffles, a “Fun Zone” for kids and adults a like, face painting, henna tattoos, a diverse variety of foods such as Middle Eastern, Caribbean and American.
In addition, a DJ will also provide entertainment, playing songs from “everywhere”, such as Turkish and Arabic music. Traditional dancers will also perform, she said.
Find out what's happening in Lindenhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Town officials and local community organizations like the Town of Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer, the North Lindenhurst Fire Department, will also make appearances, a release said.
Admission and parking for the event is free.
Elkoulily said that since July is Muslim Heritage Month on Long Island, Saturday is the perfect time to celebrate — but the event is more than the Islamic faith, she said.
“This is not a religious event, the festival is not about celebrating the religion,” Elkoulily said. “The festival is about celebrating brothers and sisters in humanity, coming together to celebrate. To bring awareness, we’re different, but we still love each other.”
The society itself, she said, is comprised not only of Muslims, but of people of different faiths like Judaism and Christianity. They even have members of two separate Islamic groups, Sunnis and Shias.
“We are with the organization to help spread love, to stop hate from going around,” she said.
The organization also has hosted several events in the recent past. In April, more than 300 people attended their “Flavors of Ramadan”, and broke fast and ate together on the first Saturday of Ramamdan.
“We want more of these type of events to happen, not only with the Muslim community but with every other community,” Elkoulily said.
The Town of Babylon, she said, has been “fantastic” in their support of the event.
“They’re really helping out as much as they could, they canceled all of their baseball games this weekend because we’re going to have the Fun Zone activities and baseball field and volleyball field,” she said. “They offered their sound system, and they’ve been really amazing.”
She hopes that if this Saturday is successful, this event can continue for years to come.
“Everybody needs to celebrate their own heritage, their own holidays, regardless of race or color or religion,” she said.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
Click Here: Palmeiras soccer tracksuit