Eid Mubarak!

Police have joined communities to celebrate the annual festival Eid al Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan for Muslims.

In Wellington, an event was held at Sky Stadium on Thursday 11 April. It was organised by a local team of volunteers under NZ Eid Day, a national charitable organisation which ran similar events in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch.

The event began with a congregational prayer at 9am, after which people wished each other 'Eid Mubarak' which in Arabic means have a 'blessed Eid'. This was followed by mixing and mingling, sharing of food and manaakitanga. There were a variety of multi-ethnic food stalls, merchandise stall, and games, entertainment and treasure hunts for the kids.

Wellington's District's Ethnic Senior Advisor, Senior Sergeant Phil Pithyou (pictured above, centre) in collaboration with the PNHQ Ethnic Partnerships Team, set up a Police recruitment and reassurance stall. Here, they spoke to people about who Police were and how to join Police as well as providing general safety advice.

Around 4000 people attended the event, which was sponsored by local mosques and businesses and supported by grants from Wellington City Council and the Ministry of Ethnic Communities.

It was also attended by Melissa Lee, Minister of Ethnic Communities; Tory Whanau, Wellington Mayor; and Egyptian Ambassador His Excellency Mr George Azer Saleeb Tardos.