The Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival in Los Angeles returns to the Orange County fairgrounds with food, music, crafts and startlingly real re-creations of the wonders of Turkey.
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. About 60,000 visitors came to the festival, including locals, historians, researchers and members of Anatolian peoples who reside in the area.
The festival was held between May 16th-19th. 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 Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival is a cultural and historical event that includes exhibitions, food, art craft, performances, dances and live music activities. Visitors to the festival had the opportunity to wander around many shops and promotional stalls set up in the large arena, where they were able to buy plenty of traditional Turkish goods and tasted 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 offered at the event.
The event drew several government dignitaries, including members of the US House of Representatives Dana Rohrabacher, Loretta Sanchez and Ed Royce, Turkish Parliament members and Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer.
