Westfield London is predicting footfall to increase again this year as the centre’s annual Eid Festival returns for its fourth consecutive year later this month.
Taking place from Saturday 29th April to Monday 1st May 2023, the three-day Eid Festival is expected to attract over 220,000 visitors.
The event has been expanded this year to include outdoor space with Westfield Square and the centre’s indoor event space, The Atrium, both of which are surrounded by a number of cutting-edge dining, fashion, beauty and leisure concepts. Overall, this year’s Eid Festival will cover an area spanning 21,096sqft offering over 80 independent traders. Westfield Square will be the destination for food theatre, offering cuisines from across the globe The Atrium will offer a souk experience with stalls offering artisanal fashion, beauty and fragrances, Islamic art, henna, face painting – plus more.
In 2022, Westfield London’s Eid Festival saw record breaking visitor numbers, with a large increase in footfall compared to an average weekend. This year the event has also been extended by an additional day to support the predicted boost in retail sales.
This year’s festival offers the opportunity for brand partners to utilise the event space available at Westfield London to engage with consumers throughout the event, spearheaded by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s in-house media, brand partnerships and data solutions agency – Westfield Rise.
Melanie Lalou, Head of Westfield Rise UK, said: “The Eid Festival is a leading example of how our spaces can be activated to bring communities together at major moments in the cultural calendar. The unique infrastructure that we’re able to offer brands coupled with our diverse and accessible spaces enables both established and start-up businesses who are part of the Eid Festival to seamlessly ‘plug in’ and engage the thousands of visitors who are expected to celebrate Eid at our centre. We’re proud to have established Westfield London as leading destination for Eid al-Fitr celebrations for both brands and consumers.”
The London Eid Festival at Westfield London enables both Muslim and non-Muslim communities to come together and experience the cultural richness and diversity of Islam at Europe’s largest shopping and leisure destination. Given its popularity in previous years, the number of people attending is expected to be similar to that of Boxing Day. Therefore, with more than three million Muslims celebrating Eid1 in the UK, Westfield London will provide integral spaces for the community to enjoy a fun and inclusive event.
The London Eid Festival 2023 is organised and managed by Algebra Consulting who are also responsible for some of the world’s biggest Muslim Consumer events and platforms such as London Muslim Shopping Festival, London Halal Food Festival & Modest Fashion Live.
Waleed Jahangir, Managing Director at Algebra Consulting commented: “We’re delighted to have brought back the London Eid Festival to its home at Westfield London and build on the past success of the event to create a festival for the thousands of Muslims celebrating Eid this year. We know many Islamic communities visit the centre so it’s great to welcome them to the Eid Festival and have the support of Westfield in having local businesses and groups set up to create an engaging experience.”
1https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/world-news/eid-al-fitr-live-updates-23833572
