Camel rides and Middle Eastern cuisine. Traditional dancing and games. Tours of the impressive and dramatic St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church.
They're all highlights of the fourth annual Middle Eastern Festival at the West St. Paul church, which runs Friday through Sunday. The event is free.
The church will also celebrate its 98th anniversary as a parish.
According to the church's website, the first Syrian and Lebanese immigrants arrived in Minnesota in the 1890s. St. George's parish was formally organized in 1913 on St. Paul's West Side.
But as the old church began to deteriorate and parishioners moved away, the community bought five acres of land in West St. Paul in 1968 for a new site.
A new Byzantine-style church opened in 1982, with a gold dome featuring an icon of Christ.
ROSE FRENCH
