International Food Festival Draws Record-Setting Crowd in Hoover
Between 1,400 and 1,500 people gathered for the 4th Annual International Food Festival at the Hoover Crescent Islamic Center on Saturday
Between 1,400 and 1,500 people gathered in Hoover, Alabama for the 4th Annual International Food Festival held at the Hoover Crescent Islamic Center campus on Hackberry Lane.
The family-friendly event, hosted by the Birmingham Islamic Society, was created from the idea that food can bring people together. In a notoriously “foodie” metropolis like Birmingham, the Festival continues to grow, and this year several attendees remarked to ALPolitics.com about how much larger it was this year than in 2024.
Sponsors for the Festival included:
- Islamic Relief USA
- Birmingham Wholesale
- Mandi Oasis
- Hooligans Restaurant
- Americars Auto Care Group
- Gyros Café
- Maiasa Sammour, REALTOR®
- Mujahid Deeb, REALTOR®
- Halal Investment Group
- A Access Lock & Key
- The McWayne Science Center
- The Birmingham Zoo
Admission to the Festival was free, with food and other refreshments being sold on an à la carte basis.
Represented at the Festival were foods from Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, Jordan and West Africa. Due to the larger than expected crowd, a few vendors had sold all of their wares by mid-afternoon.
For children and the young at heart, a Baskin-Robbins ice cream truck was conveniently located directly across from the Bouncy Castle.
A separate family area with tables and seating was provided for those needing a place to sit, feed young ones, and enjoy a brief respite.
Parking was generally available without difficulty, although during the peak times early Saturday afternoon cars were parked along Hackberry Lane for some distance.
Estimates from some of the Festival organizers and attendees were that roughly half of the attendees were Muslims, with the remainder being others from the Birmingham community.
The Hoover Crescent Islamic Center is one of three branches of the Birmingham Islamic Society. The Society began in 1990, and the Hoover location was purchased in 2006 and later transformed into a mosque and community center.
For more information, follow the Birmingham Islamic Society on the web, on Facebook, or contact them directly be email: bis@bisweb.org. The Food Festival Event page is HERE, and a sample menu of what you missed is HERE.
Photos from the 4th International Food Festival (all images—BC/ALPolitics.com):
