Smells, colors, and sounds filled the air in Birmingham’s first Halal Gastronomy evening market which attracted hundreds of visitors after launching on February 12.
Welcoming families from across Birmingham, the Halal Gastronomy Evening market included food stalls in addition to a free outdoor cinema for kids showing Disney films.
The market also offered toys and face-painting to keep the kids entertained.
Syed Shah and Alia Rehmi, a husband a wife from Tandak’s, a Birmingham based Punjabi street food business, didn’t expect the huge turnout of hungry customers at their stall.
“We didn’t anticipate the outcome of this market – it’s absolutely buzzing,” they told Birmingham Live.
“It’s great that an marketplace like this can get people learning about our food and culture and allow others to taste our delicious but colorful food.
“Many of the people who have had our food will be booking with us in the future in terms of catering.”
New Customers
Anisa Tariq, 22, who recently finished her studies, also found the market a good opportunity to advertise her ‘Cookie Obsession’ business.
“I’ve always love baking since the age of ten but I always found that it’s an over saturated market for cakes. I decided to do something different and chose to do cookies,” she said.
“Over time I created ideas like cookie pie, cookie jar and cookie cup – so there’s variations.
“It’s a good idea for halal businesses to showcase their products and foods and especially support local and independent companies in Birmingham and around the country.”
The popular Muslim market will be making a return during the daytime on February 27 and another evening market on March 12.
The Halal Market in Birmingham is not the only one hosted around the world.
In July 2019, North America’s largest halal food festival took place in Toronto.
The Annual MuslimFest, the largest Muslim festival in North America, also took place in Mississauga from in 2019.