OK, it's time to get the motor painted and dust down the ceremonial flags.

No, I'm not trying to make a last-ditch effort to welcome President Bush to the UK. I am talking none other than the yearly hustle and bustle of the Eid Festival.

Next week sees the community celebrate Eid, so lets get some facts straight.

Contrary to popular belief most Asian people won't be hiring cars and clogging up Whalley Range. Most will not be causing any trouble on the curry mile or visiting the seaside in the middle of winter just to find it's too cold to sit on the Big One.

Call it age or common sense but the whole thing bar morning prayers and the cemetery visit has very little appeal to most of us. It is not the done thing anymore.

Regardless, it seems some people still find some sort of thrill in sitting in a traffic jam and blowing the horn over and over again. Some may still think there is an award for the number of times you drive up and down the same street.

Others find pleasure in making the rest of us take a detour via Rishton just to get back to our homes.

All right, if you're in your twenties or a college student (you can be both these days) maybe it's understandable.

But I have noticed over the years a new breed of Eid reveller - the 'middle-aged I'm married but I think I'll still hang around with people half my age because I'm the only one they know who has a car' man.

It's becoming a bit of a joke. Listen up, don't embarrass yourself brother. Just let it go. It's not worth the effort. Some of us have real work to do like finding a way to visit 20 houses in one day and eating three courses of Lancashire's finest at each one.

In years gone by maybe it had a certain appeal to it and I can even remember travelling to Blackpool on the train. Spending one full pound at Patels and parading in my new clothes was the highlight of the day.

And another thing, if you were only given a couple of quid by your parents there was very little you could do with it. It seems sometimes parents these days are quick to criticise how bad it is that there are so many cars on the streets during Eid. I want to know who pays for those cars.

If sonny Jim wasn't given money every time he asked for it he wouldn't have brand new system in his car blurting out the very latest Urban Flavas album.

One last message - it's going to be busy as always, so slow down.