A feast is always sweeter when it is preceded by a fast. It’s a sentiment Wagga’s Yazidi community are well acquainted with.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Between December 11 and 14, Yazidis do not consume anything from dawn to dust. As the sun sets on the final day, the Yazidi host their annual celebration of song and dance.
“Where there are Yazidis in the world, they will be fasting together,” said Rashed Shani Baqi, who arrived in Wagga from Iraq in 2017.
Related:
Up to 300 people are expected to join Friday’s feast at Henschke school hall.
“In the Middle East and in Europe, it’s winter so the days are shorter, but here it’s summer so it can be 16 hours we’re going without food,” said Mr Baqi.
But regardless of the heat, Mr Baqi admits this has not proved the hardest year for the fast.
“When I was in Iraq, I was a very small boy, I wanted to be good an fast but I only lasted until 12 in the day before I was asking, ‘Mum, can I have some food’.”
Known as ‘the people of no book’, Yazidi history and traditions are preserved only through the memory of its generations.
All over the world, they are persecuted for their customs. Now free from fear, Wagga’s Yazidi turn their memory to those who cannot be with them.
“We remember those who do not have food or drink. [We say] don’t forget your god and those who are suffering. We sacrifice so that we share with their suffering.”