Those who are familiar with the 2 Eids will probably wonder why I'm doing an Eid-ul-Fitr haul post when Eid-al-Adha is in 3 days. There's a reason to this madness, I promise.
I wanted to post about this earrings haul earlier, but I thought I'd save this post for now because I wanted to share my experience at the first Eid festival (or what many desi's call the chaand raat mela) I visited in Canada.
Yeah... I've lived in Canada for 10 years & finally decided to visit one of these festivals/mela's. I didn't have many expectations going in because desi (South Asian) clothes & accessories are overpriced in North America.
I was in a horrible mood on the drive there (the whole 1 & a half hours), but I was all smiles within 10 minutes of browsing around in the festival/mela. Not only did the stalls have an amazing collection of big earrings & jhumkas, but they were SO reasonable (as compared to regular store prices in Canada anyway).
By the way, examples of jhumka's are the pink & blue earrings in this post.
When I say reasonable, I mean I got all 3 earrings in this post for under $40. That's a bargain considering that the gorgeous blue jhumka's in the pic below alone would easily cost $50+ in a store in Canada. That seems pricey but the blue jhumka's are huge (compare them to the size of my finger).
It's true that these are much cheaper in certain areas of Pakistan &/or India, but you need to know those areas. I went to Dubai, U.A.E & a few other cities in India in the summer of 2010, but I didn't find earrings like these.
The people who set up stalls at the Eid festivals here own small businesses and get beautiful earrings from all over & they have so much variety!
Besides jewelry there were desi outfits (a lot of variety in the latest Pakistani styles), clutches, shoes, & an area where you could get henna applied. I was so mesmerized by the huge earrings that I didn't really pay much attention to the clothes & clutches.
I definitely enjoyed the Eid festival & it was worth visiting it. If you want to check out the upcoming 2011 Eid-al-Adha festival/chaand raat mela in Mississauga on November 4th, 5th, & 6th, check out their flyer above.
I had gone to the 2011 Eid-ul-Fitr festival/chaand raat mela at Maple Banquet Hall early in the evening. I highly suggest that you go earlier on in the day once the festival/mela starts. That way you will avoid the night rush since the banquet hall (after the stalls are set up) isn't that big & I've heard it gets extremely crowded at night.
Let me know if you've visited any of these Eid festivals/melas in your area & whether you think it's worth visiting them.
