Henna good time

East Austin neighborhood dresses up for 3rd annual Eid al-Fitr celebration

This community Eid al-Fitr celebration will bring together clothes, jewelry, free henna, and South African food.

Austinites from across the city and from all walks of life are invited to celebrate an Eid al-Fitr celebration this weekend on Saturday, April 20. Hosted from 11 am to 3 pm at Mary Elizabeth Branch Park Pavilion in the heart of the Mueller neighborhood, the event showcases Muslim food, clothes, jewelry, and art from all over the world.

Officially celebrated earlier this month from the evening of April 9 to April 10, Eid marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan observed by Muslims worldwide. The holiday is generally commemorated by a large, communal prayer at daybreak, as well as grand feasts, gift-giving, and elaborate henna hand decorations — marking the beginnings of fresh chapters and summoning good fortune.

According to a community newsletter, the first Mueller celebration came about when Mueller resident Saamiya Seraj noticed that Eid festivals in the U.S. are few and far between.

“What started as a simple suggestion from a neighbor when I was lamenting Eid-ul-Fitr not being recognized in the U.S. has grown into a big yearly event with over 200 people in attendance and a variety of local Austin vendors,” Seraj writes in the Front Porch Flyer, a publication from the Mueller Neighborhood Association.

A graduate of the University of Texas, Seraj is also the CEO of Better Force, a leadership development company that focuses on empowering BIPOC, immigrant, and other historically marginalized communities.

In the newsletter, Seraj shares her hope that this third installment of the event will be a joyful way for Austinites to support their Muslim neighbors at a time of rising global Islamophobia.

South African Food Affairs is a highlighted food vendor this year, serving peri-peri chicken, yellow rice, and malva pudding. As always, the event is family-friendly, with crafts and balloon twisting as well as a story time for kids taking place every hour and featuring Muslim authors.

Guests of all ages can adorn their hands with free henna applications, and District 9 representative Zohaib "Zo" Qadri will attend and share a speech during the day’s festivities. The event is free and open to the public, and more information can be found on Facebook and Eventbrite.

holidays fashion jewelry african food

better luck next year

Austin drops out of top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Tracy Vu on Unsplash

Austin needs to put in some major work to improve its ranking for the 2026 report.

In a surprising turn for the city, Austin is no longer considered one the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Austin the 53rd best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Austin took a 10-place tumble after previously ranking as No. 43 for two consecutive years, starting in 2022.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Austin in the top 15 – when explaining the Texas Capital's successes. The report praised Austin's "progressive spirit," economic prosperity, and the award-winning University of Texas at Austin.

"Austin continues to position itself as a hub of innovation and talent," the report's author wrote. "Over the past decade, the Austin area has become a magnet for major corporations, with Tesla recently establishing headquarters here to join long-standing players like Whole Foods and Dell."

However, Resonance attribute's Austin's dip in the rankings due to rising office vacancy rates and high housing prices.

"The office vacancy rate is climbing as remote work continues to impact the demand for commercial spaces," the report said. "Moreover, housing remains among the least affordable in the U.S., despite home prices having dropped 18 percent from the pandemic highs seen in mid-2022, the most among the 50 largest U.S. metro areas according to Redfin."

Elsewhere in Texas, both Houston and Dallas made major rebounds on the World's Best Cities list for 2025 from the previous year's rankings. Houston had plummeted into No. 66 in 2023, but has now skyrocketed back into the top 50 to claim the No. 40 spot. Meanwhile, Dallas moved up from No. 73 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).

austin reports city life