Arts and Culture: Camp Christmas brings new meaning to 'camp' and 'Christmas' No result found, try new keyword!Did you know it wasn’t even called Christmas until the fourth century? Did you know Santa was long preceded by the Green Man? Did you know the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia included feasting, ...
02 ‘A bonding of the hearts’ at Islamic Society of Boston’s first cultural festival - The Boston Globe In the polished black tile floors of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury were reflected dozens of flags as a crowd of Muslims celebrated the cultural richness among them. Though unified in faith, the worshippers at New England’s largest mosque came Saturday afternoon to share their differences at the center’s first cultural festival, where Muslims from 26 different countries presented their food, tea, music, and more. Executive director Amr Alfass, who organized the event, said he was inspired by a verse in the Koran that different nations were put on earth for the purpose that they “get to know each other.” At two dozen tables, which represented countries from Eritrea to Malaysia, members of the community plied one another with variations of tea (ginger here, saffron there), explanations of clothing, and insights into the countries where they were born. Dania Hassani, 36, of North Weymouth, compared the food at her Indonesian table with her Morroccan counterparts (”same spices, just different amount”). Defiantly, Sumaya Teli, 36, hosted a Kashmir booth, which she emphasized was distinct from India and Pakistan, which each claim the region. Visiting the Bosnia and Herzegovina table, Abdalla Hussein, 70, of Jamaica Plain, said such richness should be on display all year round.