MONTEBELLO – Celebrate and learn something new about the Armenian heritage at the Third Annual Armenian Food Fair & Fest from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 22 at the Holy Cross Cathedral, 900 W. Lincoln Ave.
Enjoy food, music, dance and other activities. The event will also feature a variety of intriguing Armenian cultural artifacts and history, including the Gampr dog, whose breed originated in ancient Armenia.
There will also be a chance for those in attendance to participate in group dance instruction, cooking demonstrations, a drum circle and the backgammon tournament.
The family-friendly festival will also feature a kids’s zone with game booths, a bouncer, velcro wall and dunk tank.
Many vendors will be on hand to offer festival-goers a unique shopping experience at a Vernissage Bazaar.
Guests will have the unique opportunity to trace the ancestral timeline of Montebello Armenian-Americans from the days of ancient kings to the present.
Ancient history will be reflected through the help of a curator from the Ararat Home, who will have Armenian antiquities on display from noon to 6 p.m. at the cultural booth.
Highlights include tapestry, which once belonged to Armenian kings and an antique belt made by people of Van.
Professor Emeritus Carroll Kearley of Loyola Marymount University, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., will autograph copies of his most recent book of poems, “The Armenian Watchmaker.”
The cultural booth will show time-worn video footage of those refugees who founded the Montebello Armenian-American community.
Finally, there will be an Armenian-themed artwork exhibit created by the current generation.
Families with children interested in contributing art for display in the cultural booth should contact jubilee@armenianfoodfair.com.
Admission is $2 for adults and free for children 12 and under.
There is a free raffle with paid admission.