The Tabouleh Fest returns this Saturday after having been canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. While many enjoy and look forward to the festival each year, few understand the extensive preparations required to make it a reality.
From January through the Saturday of the festival, Bristow Historical Society members and volunteers commit more than 1,000 hours of their time planning as well as securing and coordinating vendors, volunteers, fundraising efforts, and activities. In fact, the Tabouleh Fest functions as the primary fundraiser for the Bristow Historical Society each year. When the Tabouleh Fest needed to be canceled last year, few missed it more than the Bristow Historical Society.
Excited to bring back Bristow’s annual Tabouleh Fest, the Bristow Historical Society began meeting and planning events for this year’s festival in January. Meetings began as once to twice monthly meetings before progressing to weekly meetings in the six weeks leading up to Bristow’s largest annual event. Society members as well as dedicated volunteers, interested citizens, and even a city councilman attend the meetings. Most attendees complete dozens to hundreds of hours each, volunteering their time and skills to make Tabouleh Fest a success. Bristow Historical Society’s own Joe Trigalet estimates that he volunteers a minimum of 35 hours each week by himself; furthermore, he estimates that members’ weekly volunteer hours as a group easily exceed 110 hours. Volunteers happily offer their time not only to raise money but in dedication to some of their local passions: meeting people and sharing Bristow’s rich Lebanese history with them.
Speaking of Bristow’s rich history, Georgia Smith, Bristow Historical Society member and volunteer, reveals that her favorite part of Tabouleh Fest is volunteering at the museum, where she loves sharing displays with visitors and observing the joy of people reading about their families while touring the museum. For some of those visitors, attending the Tabouleh Fest marks their first opportunity to tour the museum and learn about their ancestors. While the Tabouleh Fest is a celebration of Bristow’s Lebanese history, it also encompasses a wide variety of events. Some of those events prove favorites for other volunteers.
Volunteer Nancy Findlay states that she enjoys meeting and greeting attendees, seeing people come together, learning about the history of Bristow, and experiencing the variety of activities the festival includes. In the past, some of those events have included the Kid Zone play area, chalk art contest, camel rides, the Miss Tabouleh Pageant, food vendors, wine tasting, dancing, occasional live music performances and karaoke. Joe Trigalet says that one of his favorite aspects of the day is watching the kids excitedly play in the Kid Zone in the plaza area between Main Street and the depot. Regardless of individual favorites, everyone agreed that there is something for everyone at Tabouleh Fest, including commemorative t-shirts.
Linda Trigalet designed this year’s Tabouleh Fest t-shirt. T-shirts cost $20 each and are currently for sale at the museum and will be for sale Saturday both at the museum and the information booth in the middle of Main Street.
The Tabouleh Fest begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday along Main Street. The Bristow Historical Society welcomes additional volunteers. Interested volunteers can email contactus@bristowhistory.org or leave a message at (918) 367-9335.