photo by: Emma Delk

Cedars Mediterranean Lebanese Cuisine restaurant co-owner Tony Nassar prepares fresh zaatar bread at the 91st Lebanese Festival on Sunday at Oglebay Park.

Shawarma, grilled lamb shish kabob, kibbe and other traditional Lebanese food were plentiful for attendees during the 91st Our Lady of Lebanon Church Lebanese Festival.

Apart from providing festivalgoers the opportunity to sample authentic Lebanese cuisine, the festival also served as a celebration of the Catholic Feast of the Assumption for members of the Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church, which organizes the festival.

The festival began at 10 a.m. on Sunday with a Maronite Catholic Liturgy on the festival grounds at Site 1, Levenson Shelter in Oglebay Park. From there, attendees could celebrate Lebanese culture in various ways, including enjoying authentic Lebanese food, listening to live Lebanese music and watching performances by the Tiffani Ahdia Dance Troupe and the Our Lady of Lebanon Youth Dance Troupe.

The festival also served as a fundraising opportunity for the Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church. Festival committee member Louis Khourey noted that the first Lebanese Festival in Wheeling in 1932 was held to raise money to repair the church after a fire almost destroyed it.

“The festival started as a rather small affair for the parishioners, always on the second August each year because it coincides with the Catholic Fest of the Assumption,” Khourey said. “This year, the feature that attracts people the most is the Lebanese cuisine, which a lot of people like.”

Apart from the staple Lebanese dishes of shish kabob and shawarma, the festival offered other authentic Lebanese dishes, including stuffed grape leaves, tabouli, hummus, meat and spinach pies, zaatar bread and Lebanese pastries.

Cedars Mediterranean Lebanese Cuisine Co-owner Rena Nasar was busy making zaatar bread for attendees with her family on Sunday. Though the family hailed from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Nasar said they were glad to make the trip to help support their church by providing fresh food from their family-owned business.

“It’s important for us to come and support the festival because it’s our church,” Nasar said. “We want to celebrate our traditions and show everybody the different Lebanese traditions, which include homemade, healthy food.”

Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church member Linda Fadoul Duffy also volunteered her time and talent to the festival. Duffy has helped organize the festival for the past 10 years as a Parish Council member and attended the celebration for more than 70 years.

While Duffy used to spend the entire day helping at the event, she took a step back for this year’s celebration and only helped for “a couple of hours.”

“My days of working all day here are over, so I’m here with my husband enjoying today,” Duffy said. “It’s lovely seeing all the local people here you don’t see all the time besides church members, so it’s a great day.”

Lebanese Festival Welcome Tent Chairperson Mark McLaughlin was another volunteer on Sunday who had been attending the event for many years. He noted the event serves as a “family reunion” for not only local Lebanese families but also as a gathering opportunity for Lebanese families hailing from far and wide, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, California and Florida.

“It’s awesome to keep the festival going because our mothers and grandmothers started this in the early 1900s,” McLaughlin said. “I’ve been involved directly in this for over 40 years, and it’s a chance for families to carry on what their mothers and grandmothers did, so that’s why I’m here today.”

Besides the delicious food, McLaughlin pointed to the area’s “strong Lebanese culture” as the reason the festival is still thriving in its 91st year.

“It’s important the way we were all brought up and taken to church as little children, and we still go to that same church today,” McLaughlin noted. “We’re bringing in other people beyond the church to come into the festival, so it comes down to the culture that we still carry on today in 2025 that was brought to us in 1924.”