I went to Britania Park Ottawa to enjoy the first ever Muslim Festival in Ottawa on August 1, 2009. The weather was very nice that day, lots of sun shine but no rain. It has been raining most of the time during this summer in Ottawa. So sunny day without any rain was indeed a blessing of Allah.

The Festival started officially at 11:00am. There were food stalls selling, shawarma, pizza, kababs and other ethnic foods. By the time I went there with my wife and children, all the parking lots near the site were full, so I dropped off my family at the site and parked the car far away.

We enjoyed the food first, then visited various booths of marchandise, clothing, information etc. There were booths from about 16 countries. The chilren were asked to visit each country and after tasting food and answering simple question about the country, their passport was stamped. After visiting all the countries like Canada, Libya, Iran, Senegal, Bangladesh, Somalia, Saudi Arabiaand Egypt etc, the children could enter their names into a draw for Wii. My daughter did that and did learn few things about the countries. Though she didn’t win the Wii, but she enjoyed it.

There were train ride, pony ride, petting zoo, reptile zoo, and other play structures for the children. By the end time, almost couple of thousand Ottawa Muslims visited the festival and I am sure they enjoyed it just like I am my family did.

There were few MPPs also at the festival site appreciating the cultural diversity of the Canada. I had a chance to talk to Ms Lisa Mcleod, MPP who was also visiting the festival.

Zuhar and Asar prayers were offered on the ground at the festival site.

Overall it was a very good experience for the Ottawa Muslims community as well as other Ottawa residents to learn about Muslims and their culture. There should be more such event in the city.