Arab Fest to showcase food, culture and camels in Fort Wayne

posted on: Apr 7, 2015

Headwaters Park has added another festival to its long list of events. New for 2015 is Arab Fest, which will take place June 6-7 in Headwaters Park West.
The focus of the event “will be to celebrate the past 150 years of local Arab-American heritage, hospitality and rich culture in Fort Wayne,” said Michael Spath, executive director of the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace (ICMEP), sponsor of the festival.
“This not an exclusive picnic in the park for Arab families,” says Joan Coslow, festival chairperson. “We welcome the Fort Wayne community and look at this event as an opportunity to promote inter-cultural understanding. The festival will highlight the food, art, music and dance of the 22 Arab countries in the Middle East.”
Colorful flags of those countries will be on display around the Rothschild Pavilion, which will be the center of activity during the two-day event. Gates open at 6 p.m. June 6 and close after the showing of a 90-minute film celebrating Arabic heritage and culture. Visitors are urged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. Activities will resume at noon June 7 and close at 6 p.m.
“It will be a fun, family-friendly activity,” says festival committee member Sam Jarjour. “One thing this festival will have that no other has is camel petting and camel rides. We’ve arranged to have two camels from Nature’s Creek Mobile Zoo in Monroe, Mich., on site so visitors can learn more about these interesting and unusual animals.”
Activities will include face painting, games, storytelling and an inflatable castle for children and their parents to enjoy. Musical performances and traditional Debka dance demonstrations will be followed with an opportunity for festival-goers to participate in the dances. Skilled artists using the age-old henna technique will paint intricate designs on the back of visitors’ hands and a calligrapher will demonstrate Arabic lettering. Traditional Arab fashions will be on display along with an exhibit of prominent Arab-Americans (Danny and Marlo Thomas, former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm and more). A marketplace (souq) featuring a wide variety of products from the Middle East will be in operation.
Festivals are all about food, and Arab Fest is expected to have a huge array of traditional wholesome, healthy, aromatic hummus, salads, meats and sweets for visitors to experience.
Amar Masri, a member of the committee, has arranged through his cousin to supply the event with mouth-watering sweets and pastries made in the kitchens of his famous bakery, Masri Sweets, in Dearborn, Mich.
“I’m anxious for Fort Wayne residents to sample these amazing pastries, which are typical of those made in Arab homes throughout the Middle East.”
There is no admission fee. No alcoholic beverages will be sold.

Source: www.news-sentinel.com