Azimuddin continued to host the event annually, and he started to see more people each year.
The Islamic Arts Festival saw 22,000 online visitors during the pandemic. The online festival included art classes, workshops and children’s activities. After resuming the event in-person in 2021, but scaling down due to social distancing, Azimuddin said he still saw over 5,000 people. “Extremely happy, but not for just myself but for the entire group of dedicated volunteers, board members and all our workers,” he said. “We are a volunteer-based organization and we feel very proud that this is something that we have been able to do through thick and thin, through COVID, and we are not just the largest festival of Islamic Arts in America but also the oldest. So, I think in Houston we have done something that’s not been done anywhere in America.