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THE BUZZ: 6th Annual Bay Ridge Arab American Bazaar

July 5, 2012 Editorial Staff

Dancers celebrate Arab heritage at the 5th Annual Bay Ridge Arab American Bazaar.

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Home to a large and growing Arab American community, Bay Ridge will be hosting an all-day, fun-filled festival the sixth annual Bay Ridge Arab American Bazaar where families can come out and enjoy a traditional and cultural experience, as described by Linda Sarsour, the director of the Arab American Association of New York.

It is our largest event of the year, Sarsour said excitedly, noting that people from all over the five boroughs join the local Arab American community for a wonderful time.

The bazaar will begin at 1 p.m. and will go on until 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 8.

The event will be held in Shore Road Park, at 79^th Street and Shore Road, and will include music and a lot of dancing, and food vendors offering different foods for all tastes. In addition, traditional clothing will be sold, as well as perfumes and authentic crafts, and activities for children will be provided.

Its the beauty that the culture has that attracts people, Sarsour added.

A stage featuring live music and performances from across the Arab world will also draw the crowds in.

Every year it gets bigger and better! read the blurb about the festival on its own Facebook event page.

For four years, Sarsour explained, the Arab American festival took place at Shore Road and 67^th Street; however, to accommodate the large number of people who flock to the event, it has been moved to Shore Road Park, which also provides a beautiful view.

The scenery is overlooking the bay, said Sarsour. The park, the shade and the trees, commented Sarsour, will provide the perfect atmosphere for people to enjoy a nice day out.

For food-lovers, there will be Yemeni, Egyptian and traditional Middle Eastern cuisine for sale, as well as a wide range of sweets. The desserts will include baklawa, a pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey; mamoul, pastries filled with dates, pistachios or walnuts; and traditional Arabian Burma chock-full of pistachios.

A mobile hookah on wheels, will be available for hookah lovers. Tables will be provided with several flavors for everyone to enjoy.

The festival is not free, Sarsour said. It costs a lot of money. The sponsors whose contributions will help pay for it are CapitalOne Bank, Marathon Bank, MoneyGram, Pharmacy On Fifth Inc., Lutheran Healthcare, TD Bank, United HealthCare, Doctor Eman Al-janabi (ob gyn), and 5Avenue Kings grocery.