JABALNA Association is celebrating the Fifth Edition of JABALNA DABKE FESTIVAL!
JABALNA’s aim is to establish under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture “NATIONAL DABKE DAY“ to be held, every year, on the first Sunday of September.
2018 was a huge success with 12,000 visitors.
2019 will be bigger with your support and the presence of the faithful followers.
2020, here is the big target to establish the DABKE INTERNATIONAL DAY reaching all the Diaspora.
The Dabke is part of our “Tourath”and our role is to preserve our national heritage and to assure the transmission to the next generations.
This is the only event dedicated to the Lebanese Dabke.
Join us on the first of September in “Maasser El Chouf” to spend a joyful day of dancing and fun, one of the prettiest villages in Lebanon.
Get the chance to learn DABKE, and watch the Lebanese Dancers performing DABKE Shows from all regions of Lebanon. Armenian Dancers will be presenting Georgian, Russian and Armenian shows as well!
Encourage your favorite DABKE DANCERS during the Competition
“3ALA DAL3OUNA أجمل رقصة دلعونا”
The famous actor “Mr. Badih Abou Chakra “will be the MC for this year.
Mrs. Papou Lahoud, Mrs Karla Boutros, Mr Rabih Nahas, Mr Mazen Kiwan and Mr Majdi Zebian are our amazing Jury for the fifth year.
New this year, Live bands will perform during the day and for the closing ceremony.
This day is also a great destination for families.
Kids will have fun learning DABKE Steps in the kids’ Village.
Enjoy the locally mountain cuisine prepared by selected women cook from all the surrounding villages.
You can buy the Homemade “Mouneh” and be sure it is all done with natural products.
Browse through the fair to see the works of the artisans of the region.
On top of being Public Invitation, the visitors can take advantage of free shuttles to visit the MAASSER EL CHOUF CEDAR FOREST.
To avoid traffic and pollution, JABALNA set up transportation from Starco & Dammour to Maasser el Chouf and back, every hour.
This is part of our policy to be a sustainable and an environmental event.
JABALNA is proud to have you in this festival and count on support.
About Maasser El Chouf
Perched high in the Chouf Mountains, the Village of Maasser is known for its traditional, well0 preserved rural character. The Village has been recognized as 0% pollution by the UNESCO.
Distance from Beirut: 57 Km
Altitude between 1200- 1950 m above sea level.
Come to Maasser el Chouf and discover its secular Cedar Natural Reserve and breathe the beauty of the Cedars forest. From the summit of the mountains, visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of the countryside:
Eastward, the Beqaa Valley, Qaraoun Lake and the westward the Mediterranean Sea.
The Shouf Cedar Biosphere has its head office, the Park house, located in the village, in an old traditional restored house a model of Levantine architecture.
About JABALNA
Activities of JABALNA started back way in 2000, directly after the mountain reconciliation.
The JABALNA FESTIVAL was created in 2006. It was named Jabalna because it worked with all the surrounding municipalities and invited all the small producers to come and show their products.
This was a great way to create some visibility for them but also offer a market place for natural products that were more and more in demand.
In addition to the Mouneh market and artisanal products, the festival offered visits to the Chouf Cedar Forest and many other activities. This was the first festival of its kind and has since inspired many other municipalities around the country to do the same.
With time, the festival was more dedicated to the environment, choosing a different theme every year. Close collaborations were established with the Ministry of agriculture, Ministry of the Environment in addition to international organizations such as FAO, UNDP, USAID, and Birdlife... The aim of this event was mainly to give visitors and the public, scientific knowledge and information that are simple and interactive.
Four years ago, we started to organize, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the National Dabkeh Day. This event is very popular — thousands of people attending this day from all over the regions.
JABALNA FESTIVAL
The various themes of each year:
- September 2011- National Honey Day
- September 2012- Robinia’s Day
- September 2013– Medicinal Plants
- September 2014– Happy Birday
- September 2015 – Dabkeh Festival
- September 2016 – Dabkeh Festival
- September 2017 - Dabkeh Festival
- May 2018 - Wild Plants for Wellbeing
- September 2018 – Dabkeh Festival
Mechwar Maa Meghwar : LET’S WALK
The association and the Chouf Cedar Reserve organized for the first time in 2013 a day with the army, a free hiking event that brought together civilians and Rangers from the Lebanese army in the Chouf Reserve. In 2017, over 10000 participants walked 20km surrounded by wonderful scenery.
Passed activities :
- A photo workshop for the Alba School of Architecture students with the collaboration of Louis Lumiere Institut and in the presence of famous French photographers namely Veronique Bourgoin, Julien Leslie and Joel Denot.
- Weekend Bien être
- Gardening Session
- Photography Session in collaboration with “ l’Atelier Reflexe “
- Agriculture Session with French Expert Pierre Joyaux
- Yoga Retreat
- Children Holiday Camp
- Essential Oil Seminar
- Week End photography
- Week End Phytotherapy (The Phytotherapy Conference took place on June 21st, 2010. On this occasion, Maasser el chouf was pleased the Phytotherapy Conference on “Botanic Walk” all through Maasser Cedar Forest, a UNESCO protected biodiversity site. The day also includes a lunch at St. Michael’s Auberge. This was followed by a series of conferences and round tables during the afternoon).
