November at ATA-Indiana


As you all know November is a busy month for ATA Indiana:

The International Festival is less than a couple of weeks away and, we are putting the last touches to our Cultural booth.

We have been participating in the Festival since its early days when Mehmet Doner was the President in the seventies and 80's. The Turkish booth won awards some years. Then there was the year in the early 80's when a Turkish participant won the beauty contest.

The Festival has long abandoned beauty contests but in the past decade the Turkish booth succeeded to get voted as the Runner Up (2004) and First Place (2005) in creativity. It is a warm feeling to win any ribbons in the Festival but it's our primary goal to represent Turkish culture in the best possible way.

The Festival is first and foremost an educational event although as an entertainment venue it's probably the place to visit for the best bang for the buck: You can see dancers from many nations, eat your way through dozens of exotic ethnic restaurants, talk to some of the members of Nationalities Council of Indiana from around fifty ethnic or cultural backgrounds and learn about the world that has come to visit us right here in Indiana..

This year the Theme for the Festival is "Food for Thought." While many things can be food for thought, this year's Festival is going to focus on food. This theme works for us since Turkish Cuisine is regarded as a healthy, vibrant and inspired example in the world of the art of cooking by people much less biased and discerning than me!

Our take on the theme is to ask ourselves the question "how does a cuisine emerge?" and "what are the factors that makes a cooking tradition?" and in the process of seeking an answer to the questions, we describe aspects of our culture and geography , climate and history of Turkey.

Since the Kurban Bayrami and the Festival dates coincide, we are going to celebrate it at the Festival booth.

We think that visitors may see and experience our traditional rituals of the Bayram commemorating Prophet Abraham's display of his love and trust for God that brought him close to sacrificing his beloved son. We hope you will get a chance to come with your families and friends to visit us at the Festival and enjoy the celebration of the Feast of the Sacrifice. The shows and programs are definitely worth it and you can get discount tickets from ATA.

Of course , the important factor for our success will be the support of our membership to come and volunteer as much as you can at our booth during the Festival days November18-21, 2010.

Volunteers have the privilege for free tickets to the Festival (a $9 value) but you have to call (317) 293 7518 or better still email us at
ata-indiana@ata-in.org . Those of you who need to be picked up will just have to let us know.

All the best.

Ahmet Fer
Board Member
ATA Indiana