A family-friendly food festival is making its debut in Atlanta this weekend at Atlantic Station.
The Atlanta Summer Halal Food Festival takes place from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, and features food booths, cultural performances (including live music and a DJ) and a marketplace with handmade goods.
Vendors from across the metro area will offer a variety of specialty items from the Mediterranean region and Middle East, along with dishes not normally associated with halal, including boba tea, pancakes and more.
The ticketed event is cofounded by Hasnain Lakhani, who manages BurgerFi in Lawrenceville,Ga., and also started the Atlanta Muslim Festival Collective.
Lakhani said the word "halal" is often mistaken for a type of spice or flavoring but it actually means "permissible" in Arabic and refers to a "practice or a standard" for food (especially meat) in the Muslim tradition, similar to but not the same as kosher food in the Jewish faith.
There is high interest in the Muslim community's cuisine, Lakhani said, hence the popularity of halal food trucks in New York City and now Atlanta.
"They have halal festivals in Texas, they have halal festivals in all these major cities," he said. "So we saw fit for us to come in here and fill that void for our people and our community [with the The Atlanta Summer Halal Food Festival]."
Lakhani said more than 40 Atlanta-based halal food vendors representing several countries will participate.
"We have Yemeni lamb braised for 14 hours," he said. "We have Uzbek noodles, which are hand-pulled noodles. It's Uzbekistan cuisine. We also, on the dessert side, have Mediterranean stretchy ice cream, which is just a brand new concept."
Lakhani said the event is appropriate for all ages and even picky eaters will find familiar favorites like burgers, fries and chicken wings.
There's even "a full-on wing-eating contest," he said.
