Bridging the gap between businesses and consumers by showcasing the modern American Muslim lifestyle around food, fashion, faith and family!
It was announced today that the first-ever Muslim lifestyle festival in America, I Heart Halal, will showcase the broad range of the contemporary U.S. Halal experience from food to fashion, faith to family, at Chicago’s landmark Navy Pier, Festival Hall A, Friday, April 13 – Sunday, April 15, 2018. This new three-day festival will provide a welcoming space for American Muslim consumers – an untapped market with a purchasing power of $98 billion – who embrace both modernity and faith when making decisions about the products and services they buy today.
In particular, modern Muslim millennials are growing more conscious about their lifestyle choices and are looking to celebrate who they are without apology. They want to live a life that is “Halal,” that is good and healthy and wholesome, a concept both Muslims and Non-Muslims can get behind.
I Heart Halal Managing Directors Asma Ahad and Salman Chaudry said, “Halal today is a movement, one that’s creating new markets in every sector as value-, style-, and health-conscious Muslims and non-Muslims alike look to align their spending with their beliefs. Major American brands are increasingly acknowledging the ‘Halal economy’ and we’re confident that festivalgoers will be amazed by the broad range of experts and opportunities now addressing their lifestyle.”
I Heart Halal will offer mainstream American businesses – restaurants, pharmaceutical companies, travel agencies, wholesale clothing suppliers and more – a platform to converse with 20,000 American Muslim consumers and learn more about the products and services that help them live their best lives, in hopes of catering to their needs.
Expected to be an annual event, the inaugural I Heart Halal is produced by the Chicago-based not-for-profit Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA) which, for more than 30 years, has been connecting Halal consumers in North America and around the world to everything that’s good – and to the businesses who make it.
Significant event partnerships include IFANCA halal certified companies Saffron Road, Organic Valley, and Abbott Nutrition, as well as The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois, which promotes multiculturalism, builds communities, and helps ensure that everyone has a chance to be a meaningful part of the American landscape.
Among the attractions of this major new festival will be a high end Modest Fashion show featuring international designs modeled on a specially-created catwalk, headline celebrity entertainment, a Grand Bazaar of merchants, a ‘food truck caravan’ offering Halal-certified menus, a Kids Zone, and myriad nationally-recognized expert-led cooking, beauty, and health & wellness demonstrations. The full festival program will be announced in March.
Hours & ticketing
I Heart Halal will feature three full days of sights, sounds and events appealing to the modern American Muslim, Friday – Sunday, April 13-15, 2018, with an opening night preview party Thursday, April 12; details to follow. A complete program schedule will be announced in March. For updates on the I Heart Halal festival, including access to Early Bird priced General Admission tickets, please visit IHeartHalal.com as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
