Jenifer Sayyed
Festivities bring a strange kind of fervour in the lives of people and so they come with unique ideas of celebrating it and making it remembered. This Ramadan will be a memorable one as people across the globe are breaking the records.
Last month, Alexandria in Egypt hosted an iftar meal on Friday and broke the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest iftar spread by hosting 7,000 people. The 4,303-meter-long iftar (fast-breaking) table broke the record on Friday, beating Italy’s previous two-kilometre record in July 2014, representative of the Guinness World Record Sida Shibaysi announced. The event was organised by a group of young people by the name of ‘Radioactive’, in coordination with the governorate of Alexandria.
And this month, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia creates a Guinness world record with the longest iftar table. The event was organized by Afia in coordination with the governorate of Jeddah, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the organising committee of “Ramdanana Kida” festival.
The official adjudicators announced the new record, which beats the previous one in Finland last year where a 1.286-metre-long table was arranged by Ölvin, Bistro Cantor and C&D Fastfood in Loviisa.
And now, Jammu and Kashmir in India set a new record by hosting Asia’s longest iftar party on the banks of the scenic Dal Lake in Srinagar. Around 3500 people from all walks of life, including professionals and students, attended the iftar party that had ‘dastarkhans’ (dinning cloth) spread across a distance of 1.6 kilometres.
The party was organised by an event management company called ‘Loud Beetle’ in cooperation with civil society groups and business houses of Kashmir. Sharjah city in UAE has held the record for organising Asia’s longest iftar over a 1.3 kilometre stretch, but with a spread of 1.6 kilometres, Kashmir’s party has surpassed that.
‘Apart from being Asia’s largest iftar as of now, we are trying to show that Islam is a religion known for humanity and unity’, said Ahmar Khan, one of the organisers.
