It was to be the first ever “National Muslim Fun Day.” Britain’s largest theme park designed the event, but abruptly called it off last week (about a month before the scheduled celebration) because of lack of interest.
Alton Towers in central England was planning to host the Muslims-only day in September complete with halal food, a strict dress code and prayer areas. In addition, the theme park’s typical fare of music, gambling and alcohol would have been banned for the day and thrill rides such as “Ripsaw,” “Corkscrew” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” were going to be segregated by sex.
According to a London newspaper, the event’s organizers, Islamic Leisure, told park officials that they planned to cancel their plans to rent the park for the day due to “insufficient ticket sales.” Park managers expressed disappointment over the cancellation, while Islamic Leisure representatives refused to speak to newspaper reporters about their decision. Event organizers had hoped the “National Muslim Fun Day” would help fill a niche for Britain’s 1.7 million Muslims, most who expressed discomfort with mainstream entertainment.
Of course, the fun day was not without a bit of controversy. According to news reports, “a non-Muslim couple scheduled to hold their wedding at the park’s hotel complained that they were told the bride and female guests would have to cover up.” Meanwhile, park managers say that simply wasn’t true, rather they maintain that they told the party that their guests would be exempt from the rules. Now, it seems with the fun day celebrations cancelled, the wedding will go on as planned.
Which leads to me to ask: Why do you suppose the fun day was such a tough sell given that provisions were being made to accommodate the community? Sounds like it would have been a good time.