Food and Feast are regional food festivals that highlight local culture and food traditions in different villages and regions of Lebanon : celebrating food like
kebbeh in Ehden, fish in Batroun,
karaz in Hammana,
akkoub in Deir el Qamar,
kaak bi haleeb in Marjeyoun. These festivals promote Lebanon’s less touristic, less visited, and therefore less known villages and regions, by collaborating with local authorities to create an event that will promote the village and its traditions.
More importantly, though, it is a different platform through which we can bridge urban and rural Lebanon. In 2004, the Farmers Market began with the goal of connecting people to the farmers and producers who make their food - in short, it brought (and continues to bring) the rural to the city. Our Food and Feast festivals extend this concept by encouraging city dwellers to go out and visit the towns and villages where the cherries they love are grown or the
mouneh they love is made. Not only allowing consumers to be introduced to the land and villages where their food comes from, but empowering local farmers, producers, and artisans by giving them another market through which they can sell their products.
In most Food and Feast festivals, Souk el Tayeb arranges:
- A market for local producers to sell various products, including locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables, homemade mouneh, traditional local cuisines, and traditional arts and crafts
- A village lunch where visitors enjoy a number of different traditional dishes of the villages cooked by the villagers themselves
- Entertainment celebrating each regions specific feast activity through competitions (most delicious local dish, longest church bell ring) and traditional entertainment
- Guided tours to promote each region’s specific natural beauty
- Educational and entertaining kids activities specific to each village