BOSTON—Noureen Design will host Chand Raat Eid Festival with all Covid-19 precautions this Wednesday, May 12, 2021.
“The aim of this event is to bring together people from different backgrounds under one roof and build bridges between religions and nations. It’s about building community by creating a place for people to meet and share their culture,” said Waheed Khan of Noureen Design.
Noureen Design is an art-based family owned business run by the Indian-born, Framingham, MA-based couple Noureen Sultana and Waheed Khan. They are hosting the 11th Chand Raat Eid Festival on May 12th at the The Verve in Natick, MA. The event, from 6 pm until 11 Pm , is free and open to the public, with RSVP https://www.eventbrite.com/e/152073438749.
The festival is intended as a safe space for Bostonians to share cultures and to create a sense of togetherness by celebrating the traditional South Asian festival of Chand Raat (‘Night of the Moon’) — a Hindi/Urdu term that commemorates the sighting of the new moon.
Chand Raat kicks off the colorful celebrations of the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, commemorated in South Asia in a uniquely South Asian manner. It marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting — Ramzan as South Asians call Ramadan. In Noureen and Waheed’s native India, people across religious communities, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and others celebrate Eid with Muslim friends and neighbors.
Sighting the new moon is the signal to greet each other “Eid Mubarak” and start preparing desserts for Eid. It also heralds the last round of shopping for new clothes and jewelry. Women and girls rush to get hands decorated with mehndi (henna) at home or in the markets where henna artists set up temporary shop.
Henna application, an intricate ceremonial body art form of temporary tattoos, is common to many cultures, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia. Applied on celebratory occasions such as weddings and births, it symbolizes good luck and prosperity for the future.
A cross-cultural enterprise with ancient roots all the way in India, Noureen Design has been nominated as a finalist for the Massachusetts Family Business Award conducted by Northeastern University Center for Family Business, for three years in a row. They are proud to be included in a list of nominees that include some of the biggest family owned businesses in the state.
Waheed, an accountant by profession, migrated to Boston from his native India in 2001. Noureen joined him the following year after their wedding. When she came here, she found there was no one to do skillful henna applications.
“When a bride gets married, this is one of the most important things,” she says.
The couple launched Noureen Designs in 2005 to enable Noureen to continue her art and cater to the growing market for henna design, encouraged by an increasing interest in diversity and multi-culturalism.
Noureen Design has continued to grow while remaining true to its roots as a small family owned and operated business. Besides the annual Chand Raat and Eid ul Adha, another major Muslim festival, they also cater to weddings and plan to do other South Asian events like Karva Chaut, a primarily Hindu festival, Holi and Diwali.
The flagship event of the business remains the annual Chand Raat Eid Festival. Waheed manages the logistics of this popular happening, while Noureen and the boys play the lynch-pin role also
Noureen Design’s Chand Raat Eid Festival is fast emerging as a symbol of multiculturalism, diversity and artistic excellence in the Boston area
UPCOMING EVENT
What: Chand Raat Eid Festival with all Covid-19 precautions
When: May 12th 2021
Where: The Verve, Natick, MA
Who: Noureen Design, friends and families
Why: Because it’s fun! And to build bridges and share cultures
How: Free and open to the public
RSVP at this link
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/152073438749
Questions? Call: 781-608-3067.
