The 3rd of the biggest festival of Turks in California successfully took place in Orange County last weekend. The 1st Anatolian Cultures & Food Festival three years ago was still good and was a beginning but the depth of the event this year surprised me and most of the visitors. It is getting better and better!
There is almost a million Armenians living in Los Angeles but to my knowledge, they don’t have a festival of this size, diversity and attendance. We should be proud of the ‘smart and authentic’ Turks behind this success and all the volunteers. It takes guts, sweat and good will to make this wonderful thing happen.
WAS IT A LITTLE BORING?
I went to the festival both on Saturday and Sunday. Don’t I have any criticisms? Of course I do. I think this festival must be more fun and attract more Americans. The majority of the attendants were from Muslim nations and Turkic countries. There was still a good number of Americans but not enough. Americans love fun; it might be belly dancing or more successful stage performances but they should absolutely have fun, laugh and listen to lively and cheerful music. They will definitely find Sufi music and the whirling dervishes very interesting, deep and genuine but they will be bored after 10 minutes. I know the event is organized by pious Turks and with very noble purposes and belly dancing might be a deal breaker in the representation of real Turkish culture, but it will increase the revenues, attendance and the opportunity to show the Sufis and other great Turkish values to more visitors. You might be losing 1 but gaining 100. My second criticism is for the lack of sense of humor to connect with Americans. I think the festival committee must come up with a plan to ‘talk’ more with the visitors. It might be in the way of putting a stand-up performance or more interactive shows like the cooking seminars. There was a lot of entertainment for the Turkish people like the concert by Rafet El Roman on Saturday night. It is an event that will appeal to every Turk living in California and neighboring states. Why not make it appealing to bigger audiences! That will only add to the Turkish image.
Conversations During the Festival
I bought my food and sat next to an American and Uzbek family. I was a little surprised and disappointed to see the jealous nationalism of the Uzbek brother. When I was trying to explain the food and the Turkish language and the people living under different nations, the Uzbek bro jumped in and connected all the Turkic languages, foods and even ayran to Uzbekistan which was unnecessary and childish. The more I brothered him and other Turks in the world, he tried to separate the Uzbeks. When did we lose all these Turkic countries and why?
I also had a chance to say hi to eminent journalist Cengiz Candar and talk about Fenerbahce rather than international relations which was fun. I didn’t agree with his complete trust in Aziz Yildirim.
How was the food?
The festival offered a great variety of Turkish food from manti, karniyarik to kabobs and doners. Gulluoglu baklava was delicious but very expensive. If I told my friends in Antep that I paid 2 dollars for a small piece of baklava, they would beat me up. I know it is free market and vendors pay fees to be there, but Gulluoglu prices were not acceptable. The ice cream booth that served famous Maras ice cream was jam packed. I pitied the guy who both had to make cone tricks and also serve hundreds of people in the line. There should have been at least two more ice cream booths for a nation that eats more ice cream then bread and butter. That would have shortened the lines and eased the job of poor ice cream tricker who built muscles like Hulk Hogan in 4 days.
Last Word
The Turks in California are not alone any more. The Pacifica Institute has shouldered the responsibility of fighting for Turkish values and interests at every platform imaginable at the very right place and time.
The Golden State will be full of opportunities for Turks in the years to come and thanks to this visionary movement, we will see brighter days.
