CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — On Sunday, the UNC Arab Student Organization hosted the first annual Chapel Hill Festival at Hargraves Community Center.
The event featured over 20 local, Arab-owned businesses selling everything from clothing to home decor to boba.
UNC ASO Communications Chair Salma Hakam said that with Ramadan and Eid fast approaching, the timing of the festival was ideal.
“It’s right before Ramadan, right before people are starting to buy gifts for their families or new decorations for their house during the month,” she said. “And so it’s really great that you get to see all these vendors come out right before that.”
Hida Apparel representative Hamza Abualhawa said he came to the festival to meet new people and see the other local businesses in the community.
“I’m here just to be part of the community and show the younger people of UNC and friends and family that cultural clothings can be affordable, nice and stylish,” he said.
Hakam said the event has been in the works since December of last year.
“At first it was just gonna be a bazaar, just like a few local vendors,” she said. “Then we decided we really liked the idea of having a field day, kind of like how you have in elementary school, with all of the food and the games.”
In addition to shopping, attendees could participate in activities such as inflatable boxing, giant Jenga, volleyball, and bubble soccer.
All of the proceeds from the festival will be donated to Anera, a non-profit that provides humanitarian support in Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon.
“We’re trying to give back not only to our local community, but also the people who we are passionate about abroad,” she said.
Hakam said that hosting the festival shows UNC ASO’s growth as an organization, and she hopes that UNC ASO will host more events like Chapel Hill Festival in the future.
“If we had told you that the Arab Student Organization was trying to plan an event like this even just a year ago, you would have lost in our face,” she said. “You would have been like, ‘this is not the organization for it.’ But this year, thankfully, we’ve grown a lot and we have a very passionate board who has been doing all this stuff. So we’re very happy to be here.”