Muslim Link caught up with Event Director Tariq Syed about MuslimFest's successes this year, and what we may look forward to in 2018, which will be Mississauga's Muslim arts and cultural festival's 15th year!

MuslimFest is back for another year, taking place from August 4th to 6th in Mississauga's Celebration Square.

The annual Muslim Arts Festival is the largest of its kind in North America, attracting over 30,000 attendes annually.

Festival and Events Ontario selected MuslimFest as one of the best festivals in Ontario in 2016.

Launched in 2004, MuslimFest is a joint project of DawaNet and Sound Vision. Offering a mix of music, comedy, spoken word, visual art, theatre and workshops on a diversity of topics, along with fun activities for children and a multicultural bazaar, MuslimFest showcases the talent of a diveristy of Muslim artists from Canada and around the world.

Muslim Link interviewed MuslimFest's Event Director Tariq Syed about why folks should visit Mississauga this weekend to check out this year's festival.

TorontoMuslims, a project of the Muslim Canadian non-profit organization Dawanet, launched a brand new environmental campaign aimed at promoting sustainable practices within Mosques and Islamic centres. #WasteFreeRamadan has distributed 10,000 free Eco-friendly reusable drinking containers across Muslim places of worship. Participating Masjids have discouraged salat-goers from bringing disposable plastic bottles, instead opting for the colourful range of BPA-free bottles provided by the campaign.

There are now several grocery stores that offer halal meat, but Blossom Pure Organic, set up in 2002, is still the only onein Canada that carries double certification; offering organic meat that comes from animals slaughtered in accordance with Islamic principles. The owner of this Mississauga-based business, Fahim Alwan, was recently in Ottawa to market his products. The Muslim Link caught up with him for this one-on-one interview.

Mississauga resident Dr. Farhan M. Asrar has been recognized by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada for his leadership skills.

Dr. Asrar, the chief resident medical doctor with McMaster University's Public Health and Preventive Medicine and Family Medicine program, has been announced as the winner of the college's 2012 Leadership Award.

The national award is given to a resident medical doctor that “has demonstrated outstanding leadership skills during their residency training, has encouraged the development of future leaders in medicine and has shown strong role modeling and mentorship ability among his peers.”

After taking the Montreal Muslim community by storm, women's clothing store Boutique N-Ti opened its first Ontario location in Mississauga early this month.

“We've been discussing the opening of a store for more than two years,” says Fatma Nurmohamed, CEO of the Toronto branch. “We've been planning, researching, marketing and selling through our mobile store until we were finally able to find the perfect location.”

As MuslimFest, Canada's largest Muslim summer festival, gets ready to kick off on July 31st at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre, the Muslim Link sat down with Taha Ghayyur, one of the founders and organizers of the two-day art and cultural festival, to get his thoughts on the need for such event and his hopes for the future of Muslim artistes in North America.