The road is clear for tens of thousands of worshippers to head to East Hampshire for the UK’s biggest Muslim convention.

Organisers of the 2025 Jalsa Salana UK are confident the annual convention near East Worldham will have minimal impact on local roads thanks to a year of planning.

The three-day event is the biggest in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community calendar and begins next Friday (July 25) at Hadeeqatul Madhi (Oaklands Farm).

The gathering for “prayer, discussion and spiritual rejuvenation” is hugely important to Ahmadiyya Muslims as it features a daily address by their spiritual leader, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, and is broadcasted to a watching audience of millions.

Local traffic concerns are understandable given the scale but last year’s Jalsa ran incredibly smoothly with even Worldham and Kingsley residents not raising an eyebrow.

Imam Adeel Shah believes that will be the case in 2025 with lessons learned from last year and the “traffic chaos” of 2023.

“We’ve had four external liaison group meetings since Jalsa and these have involved town and parish councils from Whitehill, Alton, Kingsley, Worldham, Binsted, Selborne, and the SDNPA and EHDC,” said the town and district councillor.

“We share plans about traffic and how we’re bettering it or working on it. This year we’ve got an additional farm to act as a holding bay and we’ve got more filter lanes so cars are constantly moving.

“There’s more parking onsite with whole different routes and we’ve got overflow parking Groomes, opposite Country Market, and Alton College.”

Subsidised train travel, with a direct bus link from Alton station, has also been arranged while marshals will be on side roads to prevent visitors from using surrounding single-track roads.

And there’s an open invitation to the surrounding community with the AMC UK keen to dispel misconceptions and showcase their faith.