The Arab American Community Center of Central Florida kicked off its first ever culture festival in Orlando yesterday. The Arab American Cultural Festival was held Downtown at Lake Eola Park and witnessed an excellent turnout from the Arab community, as well as UCF students, in the event’s debut.
“The turnout is great; a lot more people showed up than we expected. There is quite a bit of UCF students also and a lot of UCF students helped with the whole situation. We’re really excited because this is the first year we’ve done it,” Abraham Istha, a sophomore political science major at UCF, said. “Now, it’s going to be a lot easier every year when we do this.”
The affair was organized by the Arab American Community Center, which is a non-partisan and non-profit organization dedicated to providing the Central Florida area with services that meet the community’s economic, social and cultural needs. The organization primarily focuses on integrating Arab Americans into society, while helping showcase the many values and traditions of their heritage.
The Arab American Culture Festival, a cultural heritage event that celebrates the rich traditions of the Arab people, featured a day full of fun, entertainment and education right next to the beautiful Lake Eola.
The festival featured live music, arts and crafts, custom made Arabic goods and delicious food, as well as entertainment for all ages. In addition, a variety of vendors sponsored the festival and provided a number of good and services for people to purchase.
One of the more popular items for sale was the sarongs, which are pieces of fabrics that can be used as beach wraps. They were on sell by one vendor for $10 each or three for $15.
“The sarongs are all one-of-a-kind and exclusive. They’re polyester and the same size; it’s just different ways of tying them, and there is about 10 different ways to wear them,” Nitesh Vaghela, a sarong vendor, explained.
The wide range of traditional Arabic food was another marquee part of the cultural festival. Some of the food items included lemon chicken kabobs, lamb kabob wraps, filet medallion kabobs and shawarma, which is usually a lamb, goat or chicken that is eaten inside pita bread filled with vegetables and various sauces.
“The food was one of my favorite parts of the festival because it’s delicious,” said Manal Qucteineh, a UCF student of Palestinian descent.
The food and clothing items were just a part of all the cultural aspects that the festival had to offer. The event was mainly trying to establish awareness of the Arab culture, and bring people of different backgrounds together.
“I’m just trying to make people feel welcome out here. We do this cultural thing to show people we’re not bad people and so they can see what our culture is all about,” Istha said.
In addition to showcasing the traditions of the Arab culture to the people of Orlando, the festival allowed Arab-Americans to rejoice their history and support each other.
“I’m Palestinian and all my friends are Palestinian as well, so we just wanted to come support the Arab world. It’s a good public awareness of different cultures,” Qucteineh said.
NeJame Law, the platinum sponsor of the event, got the benefit of gaining exposure but also saw it as a learning experience.
“We’re looking to get out of it some exposure from the event, but hopefully some education as well,” John Zielinski, a partner of NeJame Law, said.
“It’s an opportunity for the Arab American community to show the fun side of themselves with all the food and culture and get it out there with the rest of the community.”
The first-ever festival turned out to be very successful and received excellent feedback from all its attendees. Between the musical performances, tasty food and interesting merchandise, the Arab American Cultural Festival did a great job celebrating all the traditions and customs of the Arab Community.
More importantly, it brought an assortment of people together and laid a great foundation to have another festival next year.
“I came here because I feel like it represents my country and I just wanted to hang out with my fellow Arabs. Hopefully, next year it will be just as good,” Danny Seporian, a senior International Relations major at UCF, said.
For more information about the festival, check out http://www.arabamericanculturalfestival.org.
