This Ramadan iconic British landmarks, like the Royal Albert Hall, the British Library, The V&A, and Wembley Stadium, hosted public iftars.
While public iftars have been held in the UK before, this year we saw an increase in the number of organisations hosting such events.
More institutions are opening their doors to Muslims as they recognise it’s a powerful way to engage with the broader community.
Muslim community groups and charities have also shown great enthusiasm in reaching out to non-Muslims with such events.
Sporting and football clubs have been at the forefront this Ramadan. Tottenham, Manchester City, Aston Villa, West Ham, Fulham, Brighton, Burnley, Blackburn, QPR, Preston North End, Wycombe, Watford, and many others hosted major iftar events at their stadiums.
Chelsea was the first Premier League club to hold an Open Iftar event in its stadium.
For many years, Open Iftar, by the Ramadan Tent Project, has invited people from all walks of life to come together during the holy month for Iftar.
Islam Channel participated in several of these events — here’s a summary of the ones we attended.
Hundreds gather at Wembley Stadium
Sticking with the football theme, Islam Channel presenter Mas Patel was at the Open Iftar event at Wembley Stadium – home of the FA Cup Final and the England football team
Over 3,000 attend Trafalgar Square iftar
We joined over 3,000 people at the Open Iftar at Trafalgar Square in central London.
London’s Victoria & Albert Museum hosts iftar
The famous V&A Museum – one of the world’s leading museums of art, design and performance – held an iftar event.
And here’s the Maghrib adhan at the museum
Iftar at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
Muslims and non-Muslims gathered in the world-renowned Globe Theatre on South Bank to break fast and celebrate Ramadan.
One of the UK’s tallest landmark holds Iftar event
Organised by Emerald Network, Iftar at the Gherkin was a fundraising event in support of WaterAid’s Zakat projects in Bangladesh, Mali and Pakistan.
Non-Muslims experience Iftar at East London Mosque
As well as iconic British landmarks, events took place in significant British Muslim landmarks such as the East London Mosque – one of Europe’s oldest and largest mosques.
