The Muslim Arts and Culture Festival (MACFEST) is set to host their first ever Arts Award in November, to celebrate and showcase the best work from Muslim artists in the Northwest of England. 

MACFEST is a festival that holds around 80 events worldwide across five months. The celebrations began in early March with numerous youth festivals events across local schools, an opening ceremony at the Whitworth, Eid themed events at the Lowry and more across the world in countries such as Afghanistan, Albania, Dubai, Hawaii, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Scotland. 

MACFEST was first created in 2017 after the Manchester Arena attack, which resulted in the death of 23 people. Qaisra Shahraz, a prize winning British-Pakistani novelist and journalist, identified the need to tackle Islamophobia and bring both the Muslim and non-Muslim community together which led to the creation of MACFEST. 

Since then, MACFEST have hosted six festivals with over 80 events which aim to connect communities locally, nationally and around the world. Now organisers are looking for Muslim artists from the Northwest of England to contribute to the Arts Award. 

The Awards will highlight and allow the best artists in the Northwest to show off their work in a special exhibition at the University of Salford, which is specifically designed for the event. 

The Awards will have numerous categories: best calligraphy, drawing, painting, and photography. As well as an Overall Prize Winner. 

The entry of the event closed on the 30th of June, with the event taking place in November 2024.