Arab-Americans debut celebration of culture downtown
Arab-American Festival of Youngstown
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.
“This is a first. This is great,” said Al Warda, whose day job is as an accounting manager for a property-management firm.
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 other dancers were Mahammed Salman, Samir Esmail and Ike Omran, the group’s leader.
Traditionally, the Dabke, done at festivals, weddings and social events, is done by men and women separately. But with modernization, sometimes men and women dance together, Amireh said.
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.
The festival is very nice, said Rani Ladai of Howland, whose daughter, Liana, was getting a traditional henna tattoo. Ladai operates Permanent Makeup by Raha at the Laser Hair Removal Centers of Ohio in Howland.
Her fiance, Ray Hanna, owner of Goodies Lounge in Austintown, was one of many vendors offering food at the festival.
Nawal Picard of Liberty, working in the market where Arab cultural items were sold and demonstrated, said the community needs to be aware of the Arab culture.
“We are hard-working, family-oriented people who contribute to the economy and love God and our neighbors,” said Picard, whose husband is the Rev. Brian Picard, pastor of Northside Baptist Church.
The festival is a beautiful event with great food and everybody having a good time, said Al Adi, owner of Downtown Circle and Middle East Deli.
Even a late-afternoon rainstorm that delayed the YSU football game for 45 minutes did not dampen spirits or stop the event.
“It is beyond my expectations and my imagination,” said Adi, who already is looking forward to next year’s event.