Granville traders lose push for a Ramadan festival
Auburn was chosen as the suburb to host a Cumberland Council-funded Ramadan festival but not without the proud Granville business community putting up a fight.
Auburn was chosen as the suburb to host a Cumberland Council-funded Ramadan festival but not without the proud Granville business community putting up a fight.
Keen to showcase their smorgasbord of food, traders said it was a missed opportunity and the council had been overlooking the suburb.
El Sweetie’s Darine Abi-Daher said the Ramadan festival could have drawn visitors from across Sydney, not just the Islamic community, to Granville.
“People come from around Sydney and other states to our suburb to enjoy our famous Lebanese sweets, chicken and barbecues,’’ she said.
“We were disappointed because they’re not giving Granville the chance. How do they know it won’t be successful in our area?”
Abraham Ghazal, who owns Jasmins at South St, said the festival would have enticed visitors with Lebanese food compared with the Turkish fare that dominates Auburn streets.
“It’s a small area and it’s growing as a food hub,’’ he said.
“That’s one of the reasons I chose Granville to own a franchise.”
Cumberland Council councillor Ola Hamed wanted to host the festival in Granville instead of Auburn.
“It’s time we activated Granville,’’ she said.
“In the suburb of Auburn alone we already hold six events including the Cherry Blossom Festival … clearly we need to improve the spread of events across the LGA.
“Auburn will not attract residents from Girraween, it will not attract residents from Pemulwuy, Westmead or Wentworthville.”
But councillor Eddy Sarkis said Auburn was the logical choice for the festival because worshippers broke their fast immediately after attending prayers and most major mosques in the Cumberland area, including the Gallipoli Mosque, were at Auburn.
Cr Ned Atti slammed the debate. “We have turned this into a debacle; we have turned this into a political football — an event that should be respected, irrespective of where it goes,’’ he said.
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Cr Ross Grove questioned why said the festival should target a broader community.
“They’ve got 30-plus years without a particular need.
“Like the Islamic community in Auburn, Greystanes is also home to a proud community,’’ he said.
“It’s held, for the last 40 years, the Maltese festa.
“Nobody in that community is out there saying ‘OK we’ve got to hold our festival in Lidcombe because we want to outreach. They haven’t knocked on the door of the council. The community does this on their own strength.”
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