This past weekend Sammy and I went to the OC Lebanese Festival. It’s still amazing to us what a large Arab population this area has. There were quite a few people at the festival and an entire youth group dedicated to learning about the traditions and culture of Lebanon. They provided the entertainment in the videos below. The festival was mainly about the food and the entertainment.  

The food was amazing of course! Lebanese food is just so delicious and unfortunately it isn’t something we can get all the time. There are a few good restaurants here, but they are on the pricier side. We often miss Aladdin’s in San Mateo where we could get delicious Lebanese foods for under $5 each easily. The food at the festival was pretty good though. We got Cheese and zaatar manakish, kafta sandwich, tornado potatoes, and of course kanafeh. I have to be honest here; I still preferred the food from the Lebanese restaurants around here. But in the atmosphere of the festival, the food was a perfect accompaniment. Oh, and they had Almaza. It’s a Lebanese beer that Sammy was really happy to have again.

The second main part of the festival was the entertainment. There was loud Lebanese music that could be heard from outside of the festival, the youth group doing traditional Lebanese dances, and a kid’s zone with inflatable bouncy houses. There were plenty of tables and chairs around so it was fun to just sit and listen to the music while Sammy talked about different aspects of Lebanon. I’m very excited for our trip in October now!

Hopefully, next year we can invite his dad to go to the festival with us as well. I think he would have really enjoyed it as well.