Hosgeldiniz, Welcome to the festival
From April 2nd to April 5th, Orange County Fairground in Costa Mesa, California, witnessed a very special event, the First Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival. Nearly 35000 people came to experience it with family and friends. For many Americans and Turks, it was a wonderful opportunity to explore the rich culture and history of Turkey and enjoy the festivities. Coincidentally, the event took place while President Obama visited Turkey. The main sponsor of the event was Pacifica Institute. To-date, Pacifica Institute was known chiefly by its annual dialogue dinners, cultural trips to Turkey, and luncheons. The festival, which took years of meticulous planning and months of execution, was easily the biggest challenge faced by the organizers. Now that it became a huge hit, it will likely repeat annually and be the trademark event of Pacifica Institute. The event was organized with immaculate perfection, and amenities for every age were taken into consideration. Each visitor was given a map of the festival fairgrounds and a schedule for the day at the entrance.
As you enter the gates of the festival, you find yourself walking through the many civilizations – Roman, Ottoman, Greek and Seljuk – and welcomed by the smiles of costumed greeters. The gates were constructed in the architectural style of the respective civilizations, and the greeters´ costumes were also reminiscent of the clothes worn by the people of those times. Large signs provided detailed explanations of the civilizations, and many guests spent a great deal of time educating themselves in front of these signs. Attentions were definitely attracted to the fact that many civilizations were born and died in Anatolian region before it became home to Turks, as evidenced by the path of the civilizations. Undoubtedly, many Americans were not familiar with the name Anatolia before the event. The organizers evidently did all they can to be inclusive of many religious and ethnic minorities living in Turkey without alienating any of those. Many Turks drove and flew long distances to attend the event. The festival was an opportunity for families and friends across the United States to reunite. While they were nostalgic having previously visited Turkey, diverse groups of people came together and discovered Turkey for the first time. As a result of outreach efforts of Pacifica Institute to bring two communities together, many Armenians visited the festival as well despite the tension between Armenian and Turkish communities regarding historical tragic events. The festival provided a unique opportunity to those who left Turkey years ago and still feel a strong belonging to it. The Islamic call to prayer, adhan, brought tears to the eyes of some of the Armenian guests, who are Christian, nevertheless moved by the memories adhan brings back. There were many activities to choose from – comedy and musical performances, movie nights, exhibitions, handcraft demonstrations, live theatre, games for kids, live outdoor concerts and dance performances.
A man with a traditional red outfit was shouting for lemonade. The Sultan Ahmed III fountain, which beautifies the Uskudar square in Istanbul, was replicated as a fountain drink center serving iced tea and Ayran, a popular summer drink made out of yogurt. What set this festival apart from others is the Disneyland-like structures with their detailed calligraphic designs, ornate motifs and realistic photo backdrops of famous Turkish landmarks like Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia. Indeed, great care was taken to imitate the original structures in painstaking detail. The festival grounds highlighted 5 cities- Istanbul, Konya, Antalya, Mardin and Van, featuring photo exhibits, handicrafts. Furthermore, each city had a gateway structure unique to their city. For example, the city of Van featured the famous Van cat, a breed of all-white cat with eyes of different color, which was popular amongst visitors who took photos and looked at with curiosity and wonderment. Meanwhile, Konya showcased their famous whirling dervishes, Sufi music performances and the tomb of Rumi. 
Each of the city booths included information about the art and crafts. The entrance gate of each city displayed photos and description of the famous landmarks and significant historical events that took place. The open courtyard was designed in the architectural style of the famous grand bazaar in Istanbul, replete with domes and pillars. There were many talented painters, musicians, craftsmen and performers brought from Turkey for the duration of the festival. Not only did we all get to enjoy the savory foods of Turkey, but we witnessed a wonderful demonstration of Anatolian Turkish cuisine cooking live on stage. The chef allowed audience members to participate in the cooking of dolma, kabob and desserts. The festival even included a children´s version called `Kids Land´. For many parents, it was an added bonus to drop off their kids at `Kids Land´ where all took part in several entertaining activities that included puppet shows, games, painting lessons, toys and performances. A special thanks and praise goes out to all the volunteers and staff for the festival who worked tirelessly and generously to serve the festival attendees. I was most impressed by the level of commitment and volunteer time they gave to all the visitors. I met two girls who flew in from another state to help their friend serve food all day. Those who were serving food would often stand behind all day without taking a break to eat themselves. 
The highlights of the festival included the marching of the Ottoman Military Band, performances of traditional Anatolian songs and hands-on demonstrations of art unique to Turkey such as `Ebru,’ a form of marble design painting on water. The festival included many wonderful traditional and regional dances of Turkey. While Circassian dancers were performing in the main stage, Sirtaki took place in Aspendos Amphitheatre. Reyhani of Mardin was probably the crowd´s most favourite since they were able to participate
with the performers. Overall the festival was a great success. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan issued a congratulatory of well wishes. For many visitors to the festival, it was an enlightening and wonderful experience.
If you missed the festival, don’t worry, you can always look forward to next year.
