DEARBORN — Picnic-goers didn’t let rain stop them from having fun at a massive celebration of community at Ford Field Park in west Dearborn on June 29.

Lead organizer of the second annual Muslim Unity Picnic, Mohamed Beydoun, said the group never considered packing up and going home in the face of initial bad weather.

“The show must go on,” he said.

Despite being rained on three times, a group of about 100 volunteers persevered in wet conditions, got tents, games, food and arts tables set up, and eventually, “The sun came out, thank God, and everybody came,” Beydoun said.

Between 2000 and 2500 people attended, according to organizers.

There were giant barbeque grills, cotton candy machines, moonwalks, obstacle courses, dunk tanks, a rock climbing wall, a volleyball net and busy arts and crafts tables where kids got butterflies, spiders and various national flags painted on their faces.

Beydoun, 38, of Dearborn, said about a dozen of the volunteers worked for months to organize the picnic. It was put together not by any specific organization, but simply “by the community, for the community.”

Volunteers sent mass emails and spread word of the picnic through local mosques, with the goal of bringing together different groups of Muslims— Sunni, Shi’a, and of different ethnic groups — from throughout the Detroit area.

Beydoun said another goal in starting the annual picnic last year and keeping it going, was to give kids an example of a safe, alternative social atmosphere to fun in.

“We wanted to unite Metro Muslims and create a healthy Muslim environment for the youth,” he said.

Beydoun said he hopes to do more to spread the word and reach a wider array of congregations next year.

“The more people who come and the more different ethnic groups, the better,” he said. “We just hope that we personified a good image of the Muslim community.”