‘A bit of heartbreak, a bit of party': Adonis comes home with ‘Wedyan'
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L'Orient-Le Jour
3 days ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Donkey race, fruit festivals and saints' days: Lebanese summer traditions you won't want to miss
As the heat settles over Lebanon's hills and valleys, village squares fill with music, laughter and the scent of home-cooked food. Summer here is more than just a season; it's a return to roots. Families gather from cities and abroad, and old traditions come alive once again in festivals tied to land, faith and memory. The traditions support small economies, encourage the Lebanese diaspora to come home and keep long-standing traditions alive. Here's how Lebanese villages are keeping these customs alive: Cherry Picking in Hammana Each June, the mountain village of Hammana (Baabda district) paints itself in red, black and gold as local cherry trees bloom. Known for the fruit, people from all across the country flock to the town's annual Cherry Festival. The event celebrates the harvest with a full day of cherry picking, musical performances and cultural exhibitions alongside stalls overflowing with fresh cherries, jams, desserts, juices and more. Local artisans display handicrafts, while children enjoy activities and families take part in folk dances and live music. Visitors have the opportunity to pick cherries directly from the orchards, with some tours including hiking and discovering the cultural heritage of Hammana. The Donkey Race in Roum In the village of Roum, nestled in Jezzine's green mountains, a peculiar and cherished tradition made its comeback after more than 10 years: The Donkey Race. 'After 10 years of not hosting the race due to internal crises within the municipality, including over three years without a municipal head, we tried to revive it as part of my promises as a candidate,' Johnny Haddad, head of the Municipality of Roum, told L'Orient Today. 'The race is part of Roum Festivals, which traditionally took place every summer." The festival begins on its first day with the agricultural fair, showcasing the village's local products — from clay and grapes to olive oil and olives. The opening also includes plays for children and various activities spread over three days. The event usually brings locals from several southern districts, including Jezzine, Saida, Nabatieh and even from Beirut. Donkeys in colorful ribbons line up for a 220-meter sprint down the village square, accompanied by 12 horsemen and a cheering crowd. The donkeys usually have playful names like Neswanje (womanizer), Shayef Halo (showoff), Mkarkab (clumsy), Jahlen (in love in his old age), and Ghannoujet Bayya (daddy's girl). "After the race, the attendees gathered for a traditional wedding night performance by local artists Charbel Haddad and Jessy Jarjoura," Haddad said. The Fig Festival in Majdal al-Meoush Perched in the Chouf district, the village of Majdal al-Meoush is so famous for its figs that sellers across Lebanon often call their own produce 'Meoush figs' to lure customers. Every summer, the village hosts a fig festival where 'all farmers in the region are invited to share their produce,' Georgina Merhej, an employee at the municipality, told L'Orient Today. 'The figs in Majdal al-Meoush are special and known for their quality.' The event, supported by the municipality, transforms the village into a local market and cultural gathering space. Vendors line the streets and public squares with tables full of homemade fig-based products — from jams and dried figs to cakes, juices, and traditional Chouf dishes made with local ingredients. Local women offer home-cooked meals and desserts, while others sell handmade crafts and mouneh, giving the event a distinctly communal and self-sustaining character. Throughout the day, visitors walk through the market, talk with farmers and taste samples of what the region has to offer. In the evenings, the focus shifts to the village square. Locals bring out instruments and spontaneous music breaks out. Saints' Festivals in the Bekaa Across Lebanon's Christian villages, especially in the Bekaa Valley, summer is marked by religious celebrations that bring together food, prayer and entire communities. These saint festivals often coincide with feast days and revolve around local churches, attracting people from nearby towns as well as Lebanese living abroad who make a point of returning to celebrate. Eid al-Saydeh (Saint Mary Festival) is one of the country's most important annual gatherings. Locals gather around the church to cook and serve hrisseh — a traditional wheat-and-meat dish — free to all attendees. In Rashaya, the festival has a rural and homemade feel. Michel Daoud, a local who regularly attends, described the traditions: 'For Eid al-Saydeh, people bring homemade sweets, cakes, stuffed grape leaves, rice with chicken, tabbouleh, kebabs — all traditional food made at home. They sell it to support the church.' He added, 'Grapes and figs are always offered to guests. It's part of our hospitality.' In Deir al-Ahmar (Baalbeck district), the celebration is a neighborhood affair. 'In front of every house, you'll find food and drinks offered to visitors,' Daoud explained to L'Orient Today. 'It's like one big open street festival in Christian areas.' Further south, in Kfar Meshki (Rashaya district), the Mar Elias Festival on July 21 includes religious processions, children's games, music and food stands selling traditional preserves and church-related items. In Beit Lahya (Rashaya district), the celebration features a traditional rural dinner with saj bread, fresh juices, dabke dancing and prayers. In September, the Elevation of the Cross draws crowds to streets lined with stands offering marshmallows, grilled corn, onions, and cotton candy in front of homes and churches. Beyond their religious significance, these festivals play an important economic role. 'It's a way to support the local economy,' said Daoud. 'A lot of people sell their homemade products, and you see Lebanese from all backgrounds coming together, not only Christians.' He noted that even locals who run shops selling clothes or accessories set up kiosks during the festivals. 'It's a very local, rural way of marketing their businesses.'
L'Orient-Le Jour
5 days ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Reimagining leather, maps and the streets: Where to be this weekend in the Middle East
If you're tired of your days growing longer and hotter as your diaspora cousins overstay their welcome, this week, we're counting down the best air-conditioned events — perfect for a solo date or your favorite art aficionado — that you won't want to miss. Every Thursday, L'Orient Today, in partnership with The MYM Agenda, guides you through happenings across the Middle East that are actually worth your time. Consider this your weekly shortcut to what matters in the region's buzzing cultural scene. This week, Dar el-Nimr in Beirut is turning Christian iconography into a bright and grandiose exhibition that you won't get to recreate in your local churches. As the Ottoman era was coming to an end, Palestine became home to Greek and Russian iconographers, enriched by the hands of local artisans. If you, like most Lebanese, are jealous of your grandparents' trips to Jerusalem in the '60s and the religious souvenirs they hang on to, you can now live vicariously through them when you visit "On Earth as it is in Heaven." Wander among large-scale maps and souvenirs that pilgrims — like your grandfather — carried back. If you hang around Beirut art spaces and smoking sections, you'll know the scene is buzzing with talks about multimedia artist Vartan Avakian's latest exhibition at Marfa' gallery. The Armenian artist starts from his point 0 — his family's handwritten notebook on Armenian traditions that they safeguarded when fleeing the genocide. Using hand-drawn maps, painted canvases and specks of gold, the exhibition, aptly named 'A Curse that Turns Gold into Ladybugs,' traces the long-term effects of genocide on a community, especially in a context where alarms are sounding on Israel's brutal war on Palestinians in Gaza. Be one of the first people to meet 'Leukeather' — the sustainable leather alternative developed by artist Nuhayr Zein from discarded White Popinactree seed pods in the UAE. Sharjah's 1971 – Design Space invites you to explore the research, process and artistry behind the invention, alongside a selection of Zein's earlier works. At its heart stands Sara'ir, a cabinet that ties Zein's Egyptian heritage and Emirati upbringing in Al Ain to a broader cultural memory. Inspired by the traditional Egyptian Neesh (النيش), she attempts to use a familiar household fixture for personal narrative and material innovation. "No Trespassing" at Ishara Art Foundation, in Al Quoz, tackles the complicated aesthetics of the streets through the lens of six UAE-based and South Asian multimedia artists, engaging with it as both subject and medium. Rather than attempting to define the street, the exhibition underlines its resistance to definition. The streets are a setting, an area in your city, a public space that we often make our own through signposts, building materials, pavements, lights and street art. We blend the private and the public every time we step outside, and the exhibition tries to retrace pedestrians' footsteps, showcasing how streets are constantly being shaped by those who pass through them. If you're a nerd for Egyptian contemporary art, dive into " Echoes and Currents: 35 Years of Contemporary Art" at Mashrabia Gallery in Cairo. The iconic gallery is hosting artworks from established and emerging artists, and re-welcoming some old friends, as an open, evolving archive of art, memory and conversations. For more information, click here. Still buzzing from its critical acclaim when it premiered at ACP-Palazzo Franchetti in Venice in 2024, " Your Ghosts Are Mine: Expanded Cinemas, Amplified Voices," now lands at M7 in Doha. The exhibition — more so an experience — features works by more than 40 filmmakers and artists from the Arab world, Africa and Southeast Asia, and takes you on a transnational trip through each community's stories of exile and survival, weighing the pros and cons of displacement and solidarity. Bahrain National Museum is dedicating the entire month of August to future culture makers and trendsetters. Each week, it's hosting a series of workshops and activities for kids between the ages of 8 and 12 on Bahraini history, archaeology, arts and crafts and concluding with Treasures of Bahraini Heritage.
L'Orient-Le Jour
11-08-2025
- L'Orient-Le Jour
In Saida, Marcel and Rami Khalifeh turn nostalgia into a weapon of resistance
Create an account to see the results of the poll You can enjoy 3 free articles by creating an account Email Address Password I would like to receive special offers from L'Orient Today as well as selections of the best articles. Register By creating an account, you agree to the terms and conditions of use and our privacy policy. Register Or register with: Facebook Google Log in to your account to see the results of the polls E-mail Password Log in I forgot my password Log in with Facebook Log in with Google Marcel Khalifeh returned to South Lebanon on a full-moon night in Saida, to its citadel, fishermen, poor, resistance fighters, and the audience that knows his old songs by heart. He came back with his oud to the gates of the South — his refuge, safe shore, and shelter for the displaced fleeing Israeli fire. The return had been decades in the making; he first sang here in the mid-1970s, performing his friend Mahmoud Darwish's poem Wou'oud fil assifa (Promises in the Storm).After a long absence spent in semi-retirement composing an opera based on Darwish's La Jidariyya, Khalifeh reunited with his loyal, unshakable audience — even though he had distanced himself after the civil war to evolve his music and launch a new song project. The crowd still clung to his original melodies and his passion for novelty, songs written 'for the people and... Marcel Khalifeh returned to South Lebanon on a full-moon night in Saida, to its citadel, fishermen, poor, resistance fighters, and the audience that knows his old songs by heart. He came back with his oud to the gates of the South — his refuge, safe shore, and shelter for the displaced fleeing Israeli fire. The return had been decades in the making; he first sang here in the mid-1970s, performing his friend Mahmoud Darwish's poem Wou'oud fil assifa (Promises in the Storm).After a long absence spent in semi-retirement composing an opera based on Darwish's La Jidariyya, Khalifeh reunited with his loyal, unshakable audience — even though he had distanced himself after the civil war to evolve his music and launch a new song project. The crowd still clung to his original melodies and his passion for novelty, songs written 'for the... You have reached your article limit Bring clarity to every conversation this summer! Subscribe for $6.9/month instead of $12.9 for your first year. Already have an account? Log in
