Open iftar event hosted at famous London museum

By Behlul Cetinkaya

LONDON (AA) - The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London hosted an open iftar, or fast-breaking, event Friday for hundreds of people during the first Friday in the holy month of Ramadan.

The program was held at the V&A Museum -- one of the world's leading museums of art, design and performance.

Organized by the "Ramadan Tent Project," more than 400 people took part in the open iftar.

Omar Salha, the founder of the award-winning Ramadan Tent Project charity, noted to Anadolu that 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the project.

The project was started by a group of students at SOAS University of London to invite international students to share iftar, providing a home away from home.

It aims to bring communities together and spread the spirit of the holy month through various initiatives.

Salha said the charity will organize fast-breaking meal events in 10 cities during Ramadan, including Birmingham, Manchester and Cambridge as well as London.

He said an iftar event at the famous Trafalgar Square would be the biggest. They will also organize the same event at Shakespeare's Globe theatre, Chelsea football club's stadium Stamford Bridge and Brighton and Hove Albion club's American Express Community stadium.

Salha extended solidarity to Türkiye for last month's deadly earthquakes and said he took part in fundraising campaigns for victims.

Dowshan Humzah, a member of the project's advisory board, said the charity is bringing different people together at the events.

"What we're trying to do is turn strangers into friends, and also just build that sense of community and that's really at the heart of the Ramadan tent project," he added.

Also touching on iftar programs at football stadiums, Humzah noted that Sunday's open iftar will be the first of its kind that would be hosted at a Premier League football club stadium.