Religious Attendance

(l-r): Rosalie Dagar, Elaine Jabour, Adele Diab (mother of Jabour), the Very Rev. James Rottle, and Alexandra Zegub in the St. Elias kitchen, circa 1969

This weekend marks the celebration of one of Austin's longest-running culinary and cultural events. In the early 1930s, members of the St. Elias Orthodox Church began selling Middle Eastern dishes on a Downtown street corner once a year to raise money to build their church. The stately St. Elias sanctuary has long since become a Downtown Austin landmark, and the annual fundraiser eventually grew into a two-day festival on church grounds featuring food, music, dancing, and children's activities. Over the years, several generations of St. Elias families have worked to make the festival the success it is, passing traditions down from mother to daughter, father to son. Cooking teams that range in age from grade-school children to nonagenarians gather in the St. Elias kitchen on weekends for two months prior to the fall event to cook for the feast. They prepare thousands of servings of such authentic Lebanese, Greek, and Middle Eastern dishes as hummus, kefta (grilled beef), tyropita (cheese-filled phyllo pastries), spanakopita (spinach-and-cheese-filled phyllo pastries), tabbouleh (bulgur wheat salad), dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), kibbe (ground beef kabobs), baklava (honey-soaked phyllo pastry with nuts), nammoura (coconut cake), and Greek and Lebanese butter cookies. These delicacies will be on sale during the two-day festival, along with Arabic coffee, some unique cocktails, and a selection of exotic Greek, Lebanese, and Middle Eastern beers and wines. Another crucial component to the big party is live music and plenty of dancing. Church members have been brushing up on their folk dance steps for weeks, and once the music starts, we're told the urge to join in the fun is overwhelming. In honor of the 75th year of this joyous event, the entire city block of East 11th will be closed to accommodate the festival.