LA Assyrian Food Festival marks 26th year with free Tarzana weekend

The Los Angeles Assyrian Food Festival returns to Tarzana this weekend for its 26th year, offering free admission, authentic cuisine and traditional performances at St. Mary's Assyrian Church of the East on Saturday and Sunday.

The two-day event introduces Southern California audiences to one of the world's oldest living cultures — a diaspora community that has called Los Angeles home since World War II and carries culinary traditions spanning nearly 7,000 years.

The festival runs May 30-31 from noon to 10 p.m. each day at 5955 Lindley Ave. in Tarzana, according to ABC7. Admission is free and the event is open to the general public.

"Remember, we've been cooking for almost 7,000 years, so, it really, we've learned a thing or two. It's really, really good," said Father George Bet-Rasho, Arch-Priest at St. Mary's Assyrian Church of the East. The festival menu draws on recipes passed down through generations, ABC7 reported.

Los Angeles is home to more than 5,000 Assyrian people — the second-largest Assyrian community in the United States after Chicago, according to ABC7. Assyrians began settling in Southern California after World War II.

The Bet-Nahrain Dance Team will perform traditional dances tracing back nearly 3,000 years. Performers wear ornate costumes handmade by an Assyrian designer based in Iraq.

Assyrian civilization, which spans nearly 7,000 years, is credited with inventing mass production of iron weapons, the battering ram and the first organized courier system. Father Bet-Rasho summed up the spirit of the event in four words: "From Mesopotamia to Los Angeles."

The 26th Los Angeles Assyrian Food Festival is free and open to all at St. Mary's Assyrian Church of the East, 5955 Lindley Ave., Tarzana, from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.