Churros are great, but where's the sweet tea?
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 5:31PM Come late summer, I’m not sure what I look forward to most: the empanadas and tamales at the Latino Festival or the spanakopeta and baklava at Glendi.
As one who likes to eat, I do enjoy Manchester’s festival season. This year’s gorging began this past weekend with the ever popular Latino Festival, as well as Greekfest 2008 at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church and Mahrajan, a Middle Eastern festival put on by Our Lady of the Cedars Melkite Catholic Church.
The culinary fun continues with the African Caribbean Celebration on August 23 and something called People Fest on September 6. Glendi, the mother of all Manchester festivals, wraps up Festival Season 2008 the weekend of September 12.
While the food at these festivals is what attracts most people, the best thing about festivals is that they provide the larger community a window into the cultures of the ethnic communities that host the events. The end result is greater understanding and tolerance. That and higher cholesterol levels.
But there is one community that has yet to establish its own festival here in Manchester. It is a community whose homeland is misunderstood and its inhabitants routinely mocked. I speak, of course, of the American South.