Thousands of Muslims across the Greater Toronto Area are gathering to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.

After starting in 1985 with only several hundred people, the GTA Eid Festival now is described as the largest Muslim gathering in Canada. Organizers expected 15,000 people at the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place on Friday, to pray and celebrate the end of a month of fasting.

"You see so many of the friends that you haven't seen since months — and you see them, greet them, wish them an Eid Mubarak, that's my favourite part," Sawitri Mardyani told CBC News.

Shabaz Khan, with the Muslim Association of Canada, said the theme this year is civic engagement.

"It's all about lending a helping hand, even people who are not in the same faith as you," he said. "So basically you're talking about prosperity as a country, as a nation, and community in general."

Eid pinches taxi users

The holiday is so pervasive in Toronto that it puts a noticeable dent in the cab business. Gail Beck Souter, general manager of Beck Taxi, said about 75 per cent of her workers practise Islam, and about half of them took the day off.

"The analogy I would use is a snowstorm, where the city pretty much comes to a halt," Beck Souter said.

She added that even though it took as long as 45 minutes to get a cab during the morning rush hour, customers are respectful of the holiday, which she said illustrates how accepting and multicultural Toronto is.