Welcome | Ahlan Wa Sahlan
Join Our Celebration Of Middle Eastern CultureDear Arab World Fest Supporter,
As most of you know, Arab World Fest will fall during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan during the 2011 and 2012 season. This has put us in an unfortunate predicament regarding planning and putting on the festival.
That being said it is with a heavy heart that we must inform you that the Board of Directors of Arab World Fest has made the decision to put off hosting Arab World Fest in the years 2011 and 2012. This has been a very difficult decision as we have felt the increasingly positive momentum of the festival every year. We did not want to hamper this energy and we are continuing to look at alternatives to keep the festival alive in everyone’s minds during these upcoming two years.
We have had many discussions with the members of Arab World Fest and the Board of Directors to find an alternative resolution. Initially, we investigated the feasibility of hosting the festival regardless of Ramadan. After communicating with volunteers and vendors, we realized the challenges we would face. The vendors felt that the decline in attendance would make it difficult for them to attend as many travel from out of state. Many of the vendors and volunteers also observe Ramadan, which would add to the challenges.
We also had discussed the option of changing the date. This option presented its own obstacles. The weekends available to us would either run into the times families travel overseas or into the start of the school year. Another reason is that we feel it would be too difficult to move the dates back and then back again. Arab Fest had once switched the dates from September to August and we still get calls in September asking when the festival is happening. To make the switch and then switch back in 2013 would be detrimental to the success of the fest.
The Arab Fest Board of Directors will continue to operate as an entity with the plans to resume the festival in 2013. We also plan on hosting other events over the two years to keep our name out in the community and hope that you will continue to support our efforts. Please continue to visit our webpage and Facebook page as well as follow us on Twitter for more updates.
Again, thank you for the years of support. We could not have put on such an amazing festival without your help.
Sincerely,
Arab World Fest Board of Directors