ISLAMIC pop icon, Sami Yusuf and his team are in Guyana for this evening’s “Peace, Love and Unity” concert at the Guyana National Stadium. 
At a press conference yesterday at Red House, Kingston, Yog Mahadeo, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of event organizer and promoter Inspire Inc., said the venue’s gates will be open from 15:00hrs. Mahadeo stated that before Yusuf takes to the stage, there will be a special programme which will commence at 18:30 hours.
This will feature welcome remarks by dignitaries, an award ceremony to recognize the top three performers in the CSEC and NGSA exams, as well as performances by local Qaseeda stars.
Yusuf, who is based in Dubai, told the media that ever since he received an invitation last year to perform in Guyana, “it has been my personal goal to visit and to see you all”.
The Iranian-born British singer-songwriter, who was dubbed by Time Magazine as Islam’s “biggest rock star”, is reputed for a fan base spanning diverse regions of the world.
“The event I am here for is not an Islamic one, just to make that clear,” Yusuf stressed, adding:“It will be an event where we can celebrate truth, we can celebrate spirituality, where we can enjoy some good music hopefully.”
“I believe we are living in a time….when you have multiple religions and traditions living side by side,”Yusuf, who is renowned as a humanitarian, said, even as he paid tribute to Guyana’s relatively peaceful cultural mix, saying: “I am so delighted and happy to see that you have this harmony here in Guyana. I pray that it always continues.”
Yusuf emphasized that it is“important to have that message of oneness and brotherhood”, adding that while he is not saying people should all have the same religion and worship identically, they should“accept that the differences are gifts from God.”
“To drink one type of drink every single day or to eat one type of food is unsatisfying, so differences are blessings,” he elaborated.
Yusuf articulated, “I believe that all the great traditions are expressions of the same truth and it’s like you are looking at the microphone from your direction, I’m looking at it from my direction…but it’s the same microphone. It’s the same truth; it’s just that the angles may be different.”
Also present at yesterday’s press conference was acting Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Irfaan Ali, who congratulated “Inspire Inc. for promoting an aspect of tourism that is sometimes played down, and that is culture.”
“We’ve always counted ourselves to be a very blessed nation in terms of the diverse cultural blend that we have here: religious blend and ethnic blend. And we must see this more and more as an advantage for us, in promoting and marketing Guyana,” Ali declared.
He pointed out that the event was marketed in Suriname, and he expects a delegation from the Dutch republic to come for the event.
Mahadeohad pointed out that patrons were expected to fly in from Trinidad, Canada and the USA. Mahadeo noted too that the Princess Hotel was extending a 20% discount on room rates for September 27th and 28th for guests with tickets to the Yusuf concert.
Minister Ali praised Yusuf’s music, telling him: “Your music tells a story of political and cultural and ideological challenges and motives, and try to bring perspective through a religious window; and I think that it is important for any society that wants to understand the social and moral fabric of that society. It must have core values and core principles; and to promote it in music is indeed an exceptional way of ensuring that society remains very stable.
The event organizers informed that, as with similarly-themed events such as the CeceWinans and Donnie Mcclurkin concerts, Inspire Inc. was granted VAT breaks on all tickets, along with other concessions.
General admission tickets for adults cost $2500, and for a child, $1500. Adult tickets in the “gold” category cost $5,000, while those for children cost $3500. Children charges apply to those between 6 to 10 years , while adult charges apply to patrons older than 10. There is no entrance charge for patrons younger than 6. Tickets can be obtained from Princess Hotel, M&M Snackette, Giftland Office Max, at the head offices of Inspire Inc., CIOG and Southland International, and at other locations countrywide.