Worcester, MASS-- Sweet and savory preparations are underway as volunteers prepare to welcome thousands of people to this year’s Middle Eastern Festival in Worcester.   

“They’ll be here for hours and prepare all of that with the phyllo dough and all the nuts and all the beauty they put inside it. It’s amazing,” Fr. Milad Selim of St. George Orthodox Cathedral said. 

Inside the kitchen at St. George Orthodox Cathedral, a lot of love is going into what will be served at the three-day event.

“It’s the people outside the Middle Eastern culture who really like the food. It's a thing,” Selim said. 

The line up of food includes items like their popular mixed platter plates, but the star of the show is without a doubt the shawarma.

“The shawarma is amazing. We do chicken and we do beef, and the people really love that and the line is mostly for that,” he said. 

After welcoming roughly 10,000 people in 2019 and up to 9,000 people in 2023, organizers this year are streamlining how people order to get more food to hungry festival-goers even faster.

“People will actually have a menu on them instead of going to the table and looking and asking questions, saying what’s in that,” Selim said. “There’s a QR code and it will take them right to the menu where they can see the exact ingredients and they’ll tell us what they want on that sheet of paper.”

Between music, dancing, raffles and a gift shop, there is also plenty in store to keep both adults and kids busy.  

“Live singers. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The main event is Saturday evening. There is a very well-known singer who travels from Canada to be here,” Selim said. “We have a kid zone area for just kids, and we enlarged that this year.”

The event is held every other year, and it’s made possible with the help of more than 400 volunteers. Selim said the support speaks to the kindness of the Middle Eastern community. 

“We have people from different cultures, different backgrounds, different nationalities in this community which is really, really beautiful to see,” he said. “They’re very hospitable. Very loving. You immediately walk in and feel as big as this community is.”

The festival runs from June 6-8. Limited parking is available in the cathedral parking lot. Attendees can also park around Anna Street and Lake Ave, as well at the Buffone Arena.