Thousands from the Muslim community celebrated the end of Ramadan at Carleton University Sunday.
“It’s wonderful to come here and see a lot of people in the community here,” said Shahla Kham Salter. “And see the diversity of the Muslim community here in Ottawa as well.”
Ramadan is a 30-day fasting period that represents one of the five pillars of Islam. The Festival of Eid marks its conclusion.
It’s one of the most celebrated events in the Muslim calendar.
The celebration was held at Carleton University because Ottawa’s mosques weren’t able to accommodate the large crowd.
“There was probably ten thousand here at the prayer festival,” said Yamen Ghamian of the Ottawa Mosque. “We had to actually divide them up into two separate prayers because we could simply not accommodate all the people.”
The event also featured a bazaar with books and traditional Islamic clothing.