“Faith, food and music” are what keep John Khoury in touch with his Lebanese heritage.
Khoury oversees food preparation and sings traditional Arabic music at an annual two-day festival at the St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in West St. Paul.
The St. George Middle Eastern Festival is this weekend, July 19 and 20, and will include Lebanese street food, song and dance performances, a bake sale, a silent auction, church tours and even camel rides.
The free festival draws between 5,000 and 10,000 people a year, Khoury and other organizers said.
“Whether you’re Christian, whether you’re atheist, whether you’re Muslim, whether you’re Jewish, whether you want to learn, whether you’re just here for the food, you’re going to be welcomed with our hospitality,” he said.
Khoury has been attending church services at St. George since he was a child. He began performing at the festival 18 years ago, at the inaugural event in 2007, and he has managed the festival’s food since 2023.
Khoury now has his own kids, three sons, who continue the family’s involvement in the church by participating in the Dabke dance group, which performs at the festival.
“I think what this festival has done a great job with is bringing our youth along,” Khoury said.
The festival will have a children’s tent, which will include face painting, an inflatable slide, mini golf, mini bowling and the camel rides.
‘A happy camel means a happy ride’
Alex Hands, one of the festival’s organizers, said riding a camel is an essential experience at the festival.
“They’re 8, 9 feet tall, and you’re just riding on the saddle, and you get to see the whole festival,” Hands said.
Hands was in charge of procuring a camel, which he said was a daunting task involving almost 60 phone calls and a spreadsheet of every licensed person in the country who could possibly have a camel.
After several failed attempts, Hands was able to find a camel farmer in Oklahoma, who supplied two camels for the event named Elizabeth and Sally. Hands said the farmer owns a family business and brings his kids to help wrangle the camels at the event.
Hands said the farmer treats his camels ethically, making sure they get breaks and do not carry too much weight on their backs.
“A happy camel means a happy ride,” Hands said.
Although obtaining a camel was so difficult, Hands said it was important to have these iconic Middle Eastern animals at the event.
“Camels were an essential part of everyday life,” Hands said. “I mean, it’s still a means of transportation in the old country today.”
Hands was careful to get the single-humped camels, which live in the Middle East, and not the two-humped camels, which come from Central Asia.
The church created a special outreach program this year; mothers in sober housing at Metro Hope Ministries can ride the camels for free with their children at the festival.
“That’s really what the festival is all about in the end, is creating that family experience and that sense of joy that you get when you’re a part of something that’s lively and vibrant and colorful,” Hands said.
‘Made with love and hospitality’
Khoury owns a restaurant, Beirut Lebanese Street Food and Catering, in Rosemount, where he prepares the food. But, he tries not to advertise his restaurant at the festival because he does not manage the food for personal, financial gain but instead because he wants to support his church.
“It’s made with the love and the hospitality that St. George, as a church, we make an effort to display,” Khoury said.
All proceeds from the festival go toward maintaining the church, according to Khoury.
Attendees can enjoy authentic Arabic street food, including kafta (lamb and beef meatballs), falafel (deep-fried chickpea balls) and manakish (flatbreads topped with zaatar or cheese), which is all cooked fresh and made to order.
Khoury said he starts preparing the food about three weeks before the festival because he wants everything to be fresh, but the church started preparing six months ago. Khoury estimated that at least 1,000 hours go into festival preparation.
Hafleh means party
Khoury said singing at the festival is not a job, but a privilege.
He sings Arabic songs alongside a keyboardist and a percussionist.
Khoury said the best moment of the festival is the Saturday night hafleh, or “party,” when hundreds of people gather under the tent to enjoy the music and dance.
“I get to forget about regular life for three hours,” Khoury said.
The hafleh begins at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and ends at 10 p.m.
Khoury has performed for large audiences at festivals around the country, including the Arab World Festival in Milwaukee and the Arab Festival in Phoenix. Although other festivals attract larger crowds, he loves singing for his own community.
“When I’m singing, the biggest compliment I get and the greatest feeling I get is when I see, especially somebody that’s even older than me, older generations singing along with the songs,” Khoury said.
Celebratory stomping
The St. George Dabke Troupe, which consists of about 35 kids aged 5 to 17, will perform a traditional Middle Eastern line dance at the festival.
Dabke, which means “stomping of the feet,” is a folk dance from the Levant region often performed at weddings and other celebrations. It consists of intricate, fast footwork and stomping.
Legends say the dance originated thousands of years ago when people stomped on their mud roofs to mend cracks.
Anna Karos, one of the troupe’s dance teachers, said dancing is a unique way for students to learn about Middle Eastern culture.
“They can actually experience the culture through the way that they do this dance,” Karos said.
The dancers have been practicing once or twice a week since April to get ready for their performances this weekend.
Karos has been a teacher for three years and has been part of the group for 20 years, dancing at the festival since she was a child. She said dancing with her group was something she looked forward to every year.
“It really gave me a way to connect with my grandparents, to talk about their experiences dancing when they were growing up,” Karos said.
Khoury said the festival is a chance to celebrate the church each year.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s one of those things where we all miss it the week after,” Khoury said.
Details:
When: Saturday, July 19, 12 to 10 p.m., and Sunday, July 20, 12 to 6 p.m.
Where: St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, 1250 Oakdale Ave., West St. Paul
Cost: Free admission
