Young and old, black and white, hip and old-fashioned: everything and everyone circles around each other on Saturday at the Nieuwe Markt in Groningen. Food market The Taste of MENA took place there.
They wanted to eat pancakes at Pannenkoekcafé Blue Bananas on the Nieuwe Markt in Groningen. That would have been a nice conclusion to the visit to the Meikermis, says Lianne (37), who is sitting with her two small children at one of the picnic tables on the Nieuwe Markt.
They accidentally ended up at food festival The Taste of MENA. ,,I think it’s super fun here!” says Lianne enthusiastically. “I like the music, it’s a bit Arabic. The people are friendly, the atmosphere is casual. Fine!”
“What does MENA actually mean?”
But she had no idea that the food market was there, nor did she know of the existence of the new cultural festival MENA is here . ,,Never heard of it and I’m multiculti, so that’s a bad sign.” What does multiculti mean? “I have foreign children and I am also interested in other cultures in terms of food.”
She watches a group of people dancing the dabke, an Arab folk dance, in a circle. She tastes the name of the new festival: MENA is here. “What does MENA actually mean? I don’t know at all.”
80 different nationalities
It stands for Middle East Northern Africa and the festival (officially it is not a festival but a city program) aims to show the rich culture from that region on the Groningen stages. Not only to surprise the inhabitants of Groningen with dance, theatre, music, films and literature from that region, but also to allow Groningen residents and people from the MENA region who live here to come into contact with each other.
,, In neighborhoods such as Selwerd and Lewenborg live 80 different nationalities. Those people do go to language lessons, but then they are back at home. A lot of people can’t be reached, we don’t know how to relate to each other yet, because we don’t speak each other’s language, because we don’t have the entrances. That’s why this festival is so great”, says theater maker Karin Noeken. She is the artistic director of De Wijk De Wereld, a theater project in which people from the neighborhoods create a play that they play in the theatre.
‘Let’s make a beautiful city together’
Noeken is delighted with the performance of the dabke, at the completely different people on the food market. “There has to be room for everyone. Let’s make a beautiful city together.”
She tells us how fantastic the opening concert of MENA is here was on Thursday in the Oosterpoort. She imitates an Arabic call, it sounds high and funny.
Immediately a girl turns to Noeken. “That’s the zaglota,” she says. She is 16 years old, comes from Syria and has lived in Groningen since she was seven. She was at the May fair and heard the Arabic music of MENA is here right through the noise of the fair. She does not know the festival. She says: “Groningen is my town.”
Greet (58) from Dokkum can’t get enough of MENA is here. She was at the opening concert on Thursday and the emotion in the concert hit her. Now she is spooning from her bowl of harira (Moroccan soup). ,,I know this festival through my daughter and through social media. I love it, the fusion of cultures.”