St. George 40th Annual Middle Eastern Food Festival

A Birmingham-area staple returns to Central Alabama this year. The food festival will be held at Saint George Melkite Catholic Church, located at 425 16^th Avenue South, near UAB. Hours are from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday to Saturday. The festival will offer a drive-through service between the hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Lunch orders of $75 or more can be delivered to the downtown area within five miles of St. George on Thursday and Friday. For takeout and delivery orders, call 205-492-9621 or foodorders@saintgeorgeonline.org. You can also place orders here. What we want to do is ultimately show people our culture, but more importantly our faith,” said Jeremy Ritchey, chairman of the St. George Middle Eastern Food Festival committee. “We are part of the Catholic Church. We’re the Eastern side – the Greek-Catholic Church – and so it gives an opportunity to show what we are as a church but more importantly where our roots came from, which is the Middle East.” The focal point, however, is the food. “Food is your center point of not only here in the South in the United States, but in Middle Eastern culture as well,” Ritchey said. Then there are the pastries. From the nut-filled baklawa to the zalabieh donuts, the vast variety of sweets are at the center of the festival.