Glimpses from
MuslimFest
MuslimFest now attracts over 60,000 attendees and 80 artists from around the world over three days of festivities every summer in Mississauga (a suburb of Toronto)
About Us
MuslimFest is an award-winning collaborative program by Sound Vision and DawaNet that celebrates the best in Muslim arts, culture, and entertainment in the USA and Canada. Its mission is to position art as a community development mechanism for Muslim youth and to connect Muslims and their neighbors with each other through the language of art, culture, comedy, and meaningful entertainment.
Launched in 2004, MuslimFest now attracts over 60,000 attendees and 80 artists from around the world over three days of festivities every summer in Mississauga (a suburb of Toronto).
In addition to organizing the largest Muslim arts festival in North America, over the years, Sound Vision has organized MuslimFest and Mini-MuslimFest eventsin multiple cities across the USA, including, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Dallas, St. Louis, and San Francisco with attendance ranging from 500 to 6,000. Each of these MuslimFest events were true to its mission of building bridges of understanding among neighbors through a variety of artistic expressions. Mini-MuslimFests were mostly aimed at the younger participants and included puppet shows along with music, comedy, and the parades. MuslimFest also organizes physical and virtual creative arts workshops throughout the year.
General features of the festival include creative workshops, live artist demos, international bazaar, art exhibit, film festival, fun village, children’s shows, live plays, and fashion shows. A performance finale at the end of the final day typically includes spoken word artists, Muslim musicians, and a comedy show.
History
It was in the summer of 2003 that a group of concerned individuals, including Muslim artists like Dawud Wharnsby Ali and community leaders like Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, the President of Sound Vision, and Arif Zia, a founding leader of DawaNet, and other creative minds gathered in the basement of Sound Vision office to brainstorm the most effective and creative ways to connect with our neighbours and to engage Muslim youth. In the post-911 era of global upheaval, hate, and Islamophobia, an urgent need was felt to create opportunities and spaces for Muslim families and youth, as well their neighbours to connect, communicate and collaborate with each other and enjoy artistic performances and cultural shows.
Thus a concept of the first ever Muslim arts and entertainment festival in North America was formalized. MuslimFest, as it was aptly named, became a collaborative initiative of Sound Vision and DawaNet.
These organizations pooled their energies, talent, volunteers, and meager financial resources together to organize this groundbreaking event on August 7, 2004, at the Living Arts Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, which was attended by 7,000 people from all walks of life. Over the years, MuslimFest has been awarded several notable awards and has been offered grants by all levels of the Canadian government.
In addition to organizing the largest Muslim arts festival in North America, over the years, MuslimFest and its Mini-MuslimFest events have been organized in multiple cities across the USA, including, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, San Francisco, and St. Louis. MuslimFest also organizes physical and virtual creative arts workshops throughout the year.
