Youngstown's 1st Arab-American festival offered food and fun

Arab-American Festival of Youngstown

Gallery

YOUNGSTOWN

Great traditional food, dancing and music got the Arab-American Festival of Youngstown off to a rousing start Saturday morning and afternoon.

The one-day street festival on West Federal Street between North Phelps and North Hazel streets is a first for Youngstown, and possibly, the first of its kind in Northeast Ohio.

Cassandra Al Warda, head of the Wind and Sand Dance Company of Cleveland, whose belly dancers performed several times during the day, said she has been performing around Northeast Ohio for 15 years. And though there are many church festivals, there have been no Arab-American street festivals.

Organizers were aiming to introduce Arab culture to the community, said Mureed Amireh, one of the men from the Arab American Community Center in Liberty who performed a traditional Dabke dance.

The festival also included food from many area Middle Eastern restaurants and local cooks, and entertainment, including Tony Eid, a singer from Cleveland who is well-known in the Arab community.

For the complete story, read Sunday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.