"I think maybe the name should change," Shaikh says of the American Muslim Cultural Festival - a weekend of international exhibitions, billed by organizers as "multiethnic, multifaith, multicultural, sponsored on behalf of the Muslim community."
Indeed, Shaikh concedes, it's hard for anyone to feel unwelcome at a festival that puts falafel wraps, Vietnamese dragon dance and a Mariachi band on the same itinerary.
''It should be open to anybody,'' he says, playing with his 11-month-old child, Yunus, behind the display of Islamic literature he sells at his nonprofit shop, Tasfiyah wat-Tarbiyah Bookstore in Salt Lake City.
On the other hand, Flamenco dancing and Christian gospel music do not often figure so prominently in celebrations of Muslim heritage.
"If I were not Muslim and I came for this to learn about Islam, . . . maybe [I] would be disappointed," Shaikh says.
At an exhibit by Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land, a sign that reads "U.S. taxes fund Israel's Apartheid Wall" faces a banner advertising state work-force-development services and a booth for the Latin American Chamber of Commerce.
"The idea is to emphasize . . . diversity to show that Muslims are and should be integrated into American society, just as all groups are," says Mahan Khalsa, a member of the Just Peace group.
In a tent nearby, Sami Jazairi serves up the lentils, tahini and chickpeas his mother, Isaaf Al Kabariti, prepares in the style of her native Jordan.
Jazairi says the multicultural theme might be necessary to keep the stage occupied.
"There aren't a lot of groups from Salt Lake who do performances from the Middle East," he explains.
Silk Road Imports manager Debra Tokarewich recounts an exchange with a pair of young backpackers who stopped Saturday in her tent of Turkish scarves and prayer beads to ask what the event was.
They turned quizically toward the stage, where Irish dancers were leaping in formation as Tokarewich told the travelers they had stumbled upon a Muslim cultural festival.
''They looked back at me and said, 'Really?' ''
