A SPECIAL festival for all mosques in Newport for the first time attracted more than 500 people yesterday.

The Newport Eid Festival, organised by Newport Communities First Central team and Shaz Miah, its BME community development officer, was held at the Pill Millennium centre.

Mr Miah said it was a “truly great event where all the mosques in Newport came together.”

Children from the Shah Poran Bangladeshi Jame, Al Noor, Jamia Hanfia Rizvia, At-Taqwa and Islamic Society for Wales mosques took place in a Mosques Got Talent show.

Sawaira Ali won first prize, while Ihsan Khan and Ridwan Miah took second and third place respectively.

The panel of four judges was made up of Pill councillor Ibrahim Hayat, chaplain Farid Ahmed Khan, Samina Hussain and Rahila Hamed, who works as a mental health development officer.

Mr Miah added there were also health checks on offer at the event and that people had been referred to doctors with problems they were previously unaware of.

The cluster manager, Lee Robson, organised free gifts for all the children involved in the event while the director of Pill Millennium Centre Trust, Tracey Holyoake, received an award for her contribution to the community.

A number of Newport politicians attended, including city MPs Jessica Morden and Paul Flynn and the Welsh Assembly’s presiding officer and Newport West Assembly Member Dame Rosemary Butler.