First public Eid event in Kings Heath held to create community spirit

People in Birmingham have been taking part in Eid-al-adha celebrations today (02/07).

It's the first public Eid event to take place outdoors on Kings Heath High Street.

It was held at All Saints Church to promote community spirit.

It was curated and presented by Soul City Arts in conjunction with Kings Heath BID.

Neighbours and residents gathered to forge new friendships, enjoy great art as well as experience some of the local Kings Heath food vendors gathered from the local area and beyond.

The event was headlined by a creative arts and performance programme including the return of Soul City Arts Soul Fire Sundays live visual art installations, where live-painters made their art throughout the day for the public to view and observe.

Artistic Director of Soul City Arts, Mohammed Ali said: "It's often the case when it comes to our faith festivals, we often become quite insular and we don't really see us coming out together.

"So what we've tried to do here is celebrating Eid but really it's an invitation to all to say, listen, this is for everybody, it's all of community, and to do so in a busy corner junction, in a very civic square like this in front of All Saint's Church, it's just great that people have kind of come together, responded to the call which saying, listen, in a kind of polarised society where we live in our silos and stay in our own little pockets, that actually it's about blurring the boundaries and saying, it's time to come together.