Monday, August 14

Alton Towers Muslim Day Cancelled

And has been since the 3rd apparently. Not that the official website says otherwise.

Now this was a pretty novel idea. Anyone can hire out the whole park, apparently, and Islamic Leisure planned on doing just that, reselling the tickets to the Muslim public. There would have been no smoking, no alcohol, no gaming machines and Halal food and prayer facilities made available. And apparently the rides were to be segregated too. A big hmm to that last bit, but anyway, it would have been pretty interesting to go and experience a UK theme park in a totally unrestricted and free manner.

It's unclear why it fell apart though. Alton Towers blame Islamic Leisure, saying that they hadn't sold enough tickets. I find that pretty hard to believe since a lot of people I spoke to were totally up for it. I'm talking at least 30-40 people that I had asked personally; I'm sure many that I hadn't talked to would have gone as well. Then again, none of us had bought tickets yet so I guess it could have been a case of our procrastination and inaction biting us in the rear again.

I think it's more likely that AT pulled the plug though. Now, I'm not particularly paranoid about these things, but the idea always had a separatist and isolationist vibe about it (even if it wasn't necessarily the case - as far as I could tell the park was still open to people of any religion), and the stick AT and IL got in the media was indicative of that. I think AT deliberately decided to pull out, even if it was based on a real technicality.

Either way it's a shame: to be cancelled on the one hand but mainly for being a potential problem in the first place. Any group should be able to do these kind of things without having to defend it or face accusations of prejudice. Still, I think we'll will get there eventually, and when we do I'll be there waiting at the front of the queue[1].

[1]for the Nemesis, not planning to hold on during the ride. 'Cos only cowards hold on. YEAH!

5 comments:

  1. "..the event has been cancelled due to contractual disagreements regarding some vital Islamic issues, between Islamic leisure and Alton towers. Islamic leisure was formed to promote and create leisure activities which fall within Islamic regulations...We strongly believe that it is not appropriate to organize an event which does not allow us to uphold our ethos, even though we may incur financial loss by cancelling."

    I think you're right.

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  3. oh come on dude. it's a bit much to make the whole of alton towers a "no smoking, no alcohol, no gaming machines" zone. talk about making yourself unpopular. all those non-muslim public attending that day won't be thanking you for it. surely it's simple enough, if you don't want to drink, smoke and gamble then don't, why remove it for everyone else?

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  4. ditto what zed and turtle head said

    and segregated rides .. yeah right!

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  5. yep, ditto zed. i thought it was a silly idea to start with but perhaps thats down to current political climate. i understand theyre well within their rights to book AT - like any corporate place or group would, but i mean..why did it have to be muslims who got there first? how come no other religious group came first?

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