Snow Cones: Eid Celebrations

snow cones: Excited kids zigzagged through the crowd, hopped up on cotton candy, snow cones and popcorn, according to The Waterloo Record. But the celebrations, marked by a diverse local Muslim community that has roots in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and beyond, had an especially Syrian touch this year — a deliberate attempt to welcome the region 1,200 new Canadian Syrian refugees. With bouncy castles, a kids' train, rock climbing, basketball battles and games of bean bag toss, the Eid celebrations had a carnival atmosphere. For many of them, this would be their first or second Eid celebration in Canada. "If you're standing at Homer Watson and Ottawa, you wouldn't even know it Eid. When Syrian folk dance group A'rada took the stage, the crowd danced and clapped and pulled out their phones to record the performance. So we hoped this would help them feel a little bit of 'back home' in their new country," said Faisal Raja, a spokesperson for this year festivities. "If you're a newer person, and not quite integrated, you could feel quite lonely for the holiday." Organizers brought in Canadian-Syrian acts to complement other performers in the daylong variety show — which included standup comedy, trivia, a reptile show, songs by Ilyas Mao, a Canadian singer of Somali heritage, and Fatima Attia, a spoken-word artist from Wilfrid Laurier University. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.