Fourth Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival in Los Angeles

An Ottoman janissary band (mehter) performs at the Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival in Orange County, Calif. The ongoing festival promotes Turkey’s diverse cultural communities. (Photo: Cihan, Sezai Kalaycı)
An Ottoman janissary band (mehter) performs at the Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival in Orange County, Calif. The ongoing festival promotes Turkey’s diverse cultural communities. (Photo: Cihan, Sezai Kalaycı)


Date posted: May 18, 2013

SEZAİ KALAYCI, LOS ANGELES

The four-day Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival, the largest Turkish festival in the world, is introducing Americans to Turkey and Anatolian civilizations while promoting Turkey’s diverse cultural communities on its third day.

The festival, held at the Orange County Fair & Event Center, will end on Sunday. Preparations for the fourth edition of the festival began months ago, and more than 400 people, including Turks, Armenians and Americans, have volunteered to help out. The slogan of the festival is “Discovering Turkey.”

The event is showcasing hand-painted images and replicas of symbolic monuments from Turkey’s popular cities, including İstanbul’s Topkapı Palace, Konya’s Mevlana Museum, Antalya’s ancient Aspendos Theater, Gaziantep’s ancient city of Zeugma, Mardin’s old stone houses, Van’s Akdamar Church, Erzurum’s Çifte Minareli Madrasa, İzmir’s Ephesus archeological site and House of the Virgin Mary, Trabzon’s Sümela Monastery and Ankara’s Hacı Bayram-ı Veli Mosque and Ankara Castle. At each city station artisans from Turkey are demonstrating traditional crafts like weaving, stone-carving, filigree-working and paper marbling.

Visitors to the festival have the opportunity to wander around many shops and promotional stalls set up in the large arena, where they are able to buy plenty of traditional Turkish goods and taste Turkish food. More than 100 types of Turkish food, including mantı (dumplings filled with meat), kebab, sarma (a savory dish of grape, cabbage or chard leaves rolled around a filling usually based on minced meat), simit (circular bread covered in sesame seeds), malleable ice cream known as Maraş and Turkish coffee are being offered at the event.

Visitors have the opportunity to take a photo with Sultan Kösen, the world’s tallest man, who stands 8’3″ tall. Kösen, wearing Ottoman period clothing, tours the festival area throughout the event.

A mehter (Ottoman janissary band), a sema (whirling dervish) group and a group of traditional dancers are also performing at the festival. Also in another section, a man reads the Quran throughout the event.

Schools in the area have also organized tours to the festival. A section of the fair has been set aside for children’s activities and includes a children’s theater, where shows are put on featuring characters such as Nasreddin Hodja, Keloğlan and the shadow puppets Karagöz and Hacivat.

The visitors enter the festival area through a road called “The Road of Civilizations,” where there are several gates symbolizing the Kingdom of Lydia, the empire of the Hittites, the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, Selçuk dynasty, the Ottoman Empire and finally the Republic of Turkey. There are information boards beside the gates giving information about the cultures and history of each empire, kingdom, dynasty or republic.

The festival kicked off on Thursday, but the official opening ceremony is Saturday and the closing ceremony is on Sunday.

la-turkish-festival-2

Source: Today’s Zaman 17 May 2013


Related News

Has Erdoğan convinced EU of the existence of a ‘parallel state’?

Erdoğan had a hard time convincing the EU, who were also concerned over the revelation of documents indicating the government’s interference in the judiciary.

A New Report In Sweden Reveals Erdoğan Orchestrated July 15 Coup In Turkey

Last year’s failed coup attempt in Turkey is nothing but a false flag orchestrated by Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayip Erdoğan and his henchmen to create a pretext for a mass persecution of critics and opponents in a state of perpetual emergency, a new detailed study titled ‘July 15: Erdoğan’s Coup’ by Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) concluded.

Kimse Yok Mu to send aid for Syrian refugees with 50 TIRs

Aid materials were collected from various provinces in the Marmara Region and the TIRs arrived in Bolu province. The aid material will be given to around 117, 000 Syrians in the refugee camps. 300 tons of flour, 25 tons of milk, 200 tons of dry food and clothes have been loaded in trucks.

Monday Talk with Alp Aslandogan on Gulen Movement and Recent Coup Attempt in Turkey

Vocal Europe: What sort of link does Alliance for Shared Values have with the movement in general and with Mr Gulen in particular? Alp Aslandogan:  Alliance for Shared Values (AFSV) has six regional partner organizations and AFSV serves as a loose umbrella for these organizations. They focus on interfaith and intercultural dialogue, helping new immigrants […]

Erdogan’s options: to propose and sponsor amendments at the US parliament or to provide evidence against Gulen

At separate meetings between President Obama, US Vice president Biden and President Erdogan of Turkey, the American justice system has technically made it very difficult and imposable for the unlawful demands of Erdogan to be met. However, the options available to Erdogan are number one, to propose and sponsor amendments at the US parliament, number two, is to provide evidences to his claims against Gulen.

Grondahl: Turkish community strong in wake of threats from back home

After a three-year hiatus, forced underground by fear of political retaliation from the repressive autocratic Erdogan regime in Turkey, members of the local Turkish community are re-emerging.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Are politics and Hizmet from different walks of life?

Future’s continent and African renaissance

Turkish schools organize the biggest science olympiads of Indonesia

Most Turkish asylum seekers in Netherlands Gülen followers

Goods signed by Obama, Stallone auctioned at Turkish organization fundraiser

Erdoğan: both asset and liability for AKP

Sierra Foundation’s Dialog and Friendship Dinner Brings Together Many in Reno

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News