Lakemba: Major Ramadan festival scaled back after 'smelly food' complaints – angering Muslim chefs

A street fight is raging over one of Australia's biggest Islamic festivals, with residents claiming it is unruly, too loud and too smelly.

The council that oversees the Ramadan Nights street festival in the south-west Sydney suburb of Lakemba has taken steps to appease more than 300 residents who have signed a petition outlining their complaints about the event, which will last about a month.

Locals were dissatisfied with, among other things, the number of road closures to accommodate the more than 1.2 million visitors, perceived 'anti-social behaviour', piles of rubbish left behind and even the unpleasant smell of food preparation.

Dishes typically offered at the festival include camel, beef and chicken burgers, as well as desserts including the famous Lebanese sweet knafeh and the traditional Middle Eastern baklava.

The noise from the festival – which lasts from sunset to 3am during the Muslim holy month of fasting, during which food cannot be consumed until after sunset – has caused locals to complain of a lack of sleep.

In response, the City of Canterbury-Bankstown has taken steps to close fewer roads, move festival events out of homes and reduce promotion of the event.

This is much to the annoyance of some entrepreneurs in the region.

Salim Shaikh, owner of chicken shop Extra Crispy on Haldon Street, said the council should not give in to the popular event, which has been running for 15 years and last year surpassed the Royal Sydney Show for visitors.

“The people complaining are those who have settled in the area knowing that the event takes place every year,” Shaikh told the newspaper. Daily telegram.

'If you don't like noise and markets, why would you move into a city center next to a street festival?'

City Councilor Barbara Khoury agreed it was “very difficult” to “hear that people have moved into the area after the event started and want to close it down.”

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast during the day but can eat when the sun sets (Lakemba Ramadan festival stall pictured)

Another local businessman Salim Deeni, owner of the Afghan Sufra restaurant, said it was dangerous to leave more roads open when so many people pass through the area.

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek said it was “difficult” to keep everyone happy and the measures would be reviewed.

A council report on the festival called it 'a phenomenal success' but also admitted it posed a 'significant budgetary' challenge.

Last year the festival cost the city more than $2 million to organize.

The festival also has critics among Muslim spiritual leaders for not demonstrating a more devotional nature.

An Islamic preacher who tags himself as Iman Boost said on TikTok that the Ramadan festival was more about celebration than piety.

The appeal of the Ramadan Street Festival in Lakemba (pictured) means more than 1.2 million people attend the event, which is more than last year's Royal Sydney Show

He said Lakemba had become the “new Kings Cross” during the festival, but clarified he was not talking about the prostitution once associated with Sydney's infamous red light district, but that it was the “place to party”.

Iman Boost complained that it had become such a nightlife hotspot that even “non-Muslims come.”

“Do you think the non-Muslims come to learn about Allah?” he asked scathingly.

Every year in the month of Ramadan, the first revelation of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad is commemorated.

Muslims spend the day fasting from sunrise before having their first meal at sunset, known as Iftar.