NEWS

Oldham Eid in the Park event cancelled due to weather

The event Eid in the Park was cancelled due to the weather forecast for tomorrow, which shows bad weather.

The event would have taken place tomorrow, Friday, following the confirmation of the date of Eid al-Fitr.

Event organiser Hamid Ali cited a health and safety risk to hold the outdoor event, which would have included bouncy castles and rides alongside stalls, during rainy weather.

Oldham’s event is not the only one to be cancelled due to the weather, with others, such as one in Hertfordshire, also cancelled.

The Jama’ah, or Eid prayer congregation, will now take place inside Mosques in the borough.

A ‘quite famous’ name was set to attend the now-cancelled event, which The Oldham Times can now reveal would have been Oldham’s very own Salt Bhai.

Speaking to The Oldham Times, event organiser Hamid Ali, who lives nearby, said: “The support from and the love from the community and from the people has been overwhelming.

“Everybody has supported it and everyone has come together, it has been really great.”

The event is hoped to return with better weather for Eid al-Adha, set to take place at the end of June or the beginning of July, depending on the moon sighting.

With Islam following the Islamic calendar, which is based on the moon’s phases and consists of a year of 354 or 355 days, Eid does not take place on the same date in the Gregorian calendar each year.

Hamid added: “It’ll be back bigger and stronger with even more for the community, now it’s going to happen at the end of June or beginning of July, we’ll know a bit more 10 or 12 days before.

“We’ve got everything in place, the stalls are in place, we’ve got everything ready for the prayer as well and the community support is unbelievable, the amount of support we’ve got from people from different backgrounds, I thank them all, it’s been overwhelming.”