This article was first published May 4, 2022.
This week, the Muslim community celebrates Eid Al Fitr - a religious celebration that marks the end of Ramadan.
Following a month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, thousands of people from the Muslim community in Auckland gathered together in celebration at, Ngā Anawai, Eden Park for NZ Eid Day.
Re: spoke to people at the event about what Eid means to them, how they were celebrating and the outfits they chose to wear for the big day. 
Mandeeq, 17, and Golda, 25
What are you wearing?
Mandeeq: Me and my sister are twinning today.
We decided to go with this gold colour, we’ve never worn this colour before so we thought we’d give it a shot for Eid.
What does Eid mean to you?
Mandeeq: It’s a special day to celebrate the 30 days of Ramadan, we get to see families and everyone exchanges gifts.
How does fashion let you express yourself?
Mandeeq: We go out of our zone to try new things and new outfits that we’ve never worn. It’s nice wearing new things.
Abdulqani, 30, and Yaser, 20
What are you wearing?
Abdulqani: Today I’m wearing all white jeans with a white shirt, complementing it with a Harley Davidson leather jacket and leather shoes.
What does Eid mean to you?
Abdulqani: Happiness [and] oneness - everyone from different parts of the world are all here celebrating for one reason. It’s beautiful.
How does fashion let you express yourself?
Abdulqani: It makes me feel better about myself, gives me inner confidence and makes me feel happy.
Adyl, 34
What are you wearing?
I’m wearing a shalwar kameez, traditional South-Asian formal clothing.
What does Eid mean to you?
Since we are a small community in New Zealand, it’s an opportunity for us to come together to meet and greet each other.
How does fashion let you express yourself?
You see there are various things people wear in Muslim communities.
The fashion varies from culture to culture, so you will see many cultures wearing their traditional dress. This is why I wear my shalwar kameez.
Layla, 18 and Layan, 18
What are you wearing?
Layla: So we’re both wearing abayas.
Layan: These are like modest Arab dresses, but they’re also multicultural. It’s mainly for modesty because Islam is all about modesty.
What does Eid mean to you?
Layan: An escape from reality honestly, it’s a celebration seeing our friends and families get together sharing money and gifts.
Layla: Yeah we haven’t seen most of these people for about a year now so it’s like a big reunion.
How does fashion let you express yourself?
Layan: It’s about personal expression, we personally have been in the season where we like modest long dresses. [We also like] clothing that represents our culture as well, like if you saw me from a distance you would know I am Muslim.
Layla: Culturally, today’s the day where everyone wears the nicest clothes they have or they’ll buy new outfits or dress however they want.
Awais, 10, and Abdullah, 11
What are you wearing?
We are wearing our traditional shalwar kameez.
What does Eid mean to you?
Abdullah: It’s a really special day, a celebration day for Muslims. And really, it’s like a reward for the fast that we did.
Awais: Yeah I think it is a reward for all the hard work we put in our fast and it’s really important to us, and a favourite time of the year.
How does fashion let you express yourself?
Abdullah: We express ourselves with our traditional clothes. It really expresses who we are and where we come from.
Manahil, 18
What are you wearing?
So this is a traditional Indian dress that I am wearing for Eid.
What does Eid mean to you?
It means coming together and celebrating with family and seeing our communities come together. It’s just a very happy time.
How does fashion let you express yourself?
Fashion just makes me happy!
Deema, 21, Sandy, 17, and Lubna, 44
What are you wearing?
Deema: We’re from Palestine, so we are wearing traditional Palestinian clothing.
What does Eid mean to you?
Lubna: After one month of fasting, today is a day to celebrate and be happy together.
Deema: Yeah, basically it’s a day of celebrating and being kind to each other.
How does fashion let you express yourself?
Sandy: Normally on Eid everyone wears their own cultural clothing. We always wear new clothes and try to look our best.
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