Feast for the senses

from StandOut Magazine June 2023

FIVESTAR GROUP

t’s a little thing but being able to hear your own playlist whilst you walk around Westfield London gives you an unbelievable feeling of power,” says Waleed Jahangir, laughing.

Jahangir is talking to StandOut just days after organising the biggest London EID Festival yet. He is recalling how it felt to hear the playlist that he compiled over the shopping centre’s sound system. To Jahangir, it’s an achievement. “I felt a sense of takeover,” he adds. “We [the Muslim community] could hear our own music, the music we love. It had a big impact.”

Jahangir is director of MLS Events (trading as Algebra Festivals) and the organiser of London EID Festival. He is in good spirits. He has finally recovered after delivering the festival’s fourth outing.

London EID Festival is a big celebratory event that marks the end of Ramadan. To the Muslim community, EID is like Christmas and a huge opportunity to get together with friends and family, eat lots of food, and exchange gifts. Shopping plays a big part in EID celebrations and it’s one reason why Jahangir launched the three-day celebration.

“It was Christmas, and I was shopping with my family,” he continues. “I could see all this money being spent, and I could see an opportunity. But how could I get brands on board? I thought if I can show someone the numbers and show someone how much money the Muslim community has to spend, then there’s no way they could say no to my idea.”

Untapped Opportunities

Jahangir met Kevin Jackson, former vice president of GPJ, at Event Buyers Live in 2014, and talked to him about the untapped event opportunities within the Muslim community.

Jackson worked with Jahangir as a consultant and helped him to launch London Muslim Shopping Festival and London Halal Food Festival before launching London EID Festival.

“My ethos for all my events is to provide a platform for all communities to come together, to show the best of a marginalised community by showcasing them on mainstream platforms,” Jahangir continues. “When I talked to Westfield London, we agreed that I would hire the site from them and if the first London EID Festival worked, we would work in partnership.”

Lessons Learned

Each year, the festival has grown, and the 2023 edition recently welcomed more than 350,000 people to Westfield London over three days. The festival featured five zones and marked EID with modest fashion shows, live entertainment, shopping, and cookery demos. A bazaar, situated within Westfield London’s atrium, comprised 80 stalls, whilst a main stage and giant screen were located in Westfield Square.

Because of the distance between each zone, each zone needed its own event manager. Jahangir was assisted on site by Rachael Elliott, Gino Spolverino, and Christine Adams, who took on operational responsibilities, and Jahangir contracted Xav-Eight, Big Kahuna, and Bobcat Digital to provide equipment and services to the annual event.

Jahangir adds: “What did I learn at this year’s London EID Festival? London EID Festival does not take place in a venue, we’ve finally learned that; Westfield London is a shopping centre.

“Also, the festival has a lot of logistical challenges, but we are adaptable,” Jahangir continues. “The night build is challenging, there are certain points where you have to look at weight loading because there are trains running underneath the centre, and because of the footfall, there were a few health and safety concerns, so we did a lot of risk analysis and heat mapping.”

Festival Future

This year’s event attracted many members of the Muslim community from overseas. The event was marketed in the Netherlands and Belgium, which Jahangir describes as “underserved” areas when it comes to ethnic events.

Now, Jahangir has plans to take over more sites and expand EID Festival. Plus, he wishes to spread the festival across a wider area of the Westfield site, encouraging longer dwell time and more spending.

Jahangir concludes: “Next year, I have plans to take EID Festival to Europe. I want to replicate the festival at other Westfield sites in the Netherlands.

“It has a feel-good factor, it is full of positivity, and I want Muslims to be portrayed in a positive light.

“This year’s event was fantastic. I have had a lot of positive feedback from the community; they felt that they owned the weekend and felt that Westfield was theirs and so I want everyone to experience the festival.”