The Middle East may not be a top travel destination due to unrest in the region, but for those who want a taste of otherwise inaccessible cultures, the biennial Arab Festival at Seattle Center helps to expose the rich history and customs of Arab nations.

Afifi Durr founded the first Arab Festival, which used to be a small event held on Capitol Hill but has increased in popularity and size and is now sponsored by the Arab Center of Washington. At the festival, I met with Durr after spending a half hour watching her cooking demonstration, where I learned how to make traditional Lebanese dishes like hummus, an eggplant dip called “baba ghanouj” and “tabouli.”

“We know that our culture is very rich, but [other] people don’t know about it,” Durr said. Her goal for the festival is to “go beyond the borders of politics and religion,” topics that tend to dominate American discussions about Arab countries.

Durr’s cooking demonstration extended beyond the culinary. As she chopped tomatoes and green onions, Durr dispensed anecdotes about the social role food plays in Lebanon; she explained how gossip is shared among women in the kitchen and what a meal means to the entire family, distant cousins and all.

Local area eateries such as La Jitina, Pita King Bakery and the Continental Pastry Shop sold “zalabia,” licorice flavored Lebanese fritters; “shawarma,” seasoned rotisserie lamb; falafel; and other traditional foods, most in the $5 to $6 price range. The festival also offered the Al Kahwa House, a tent blaring modern Arabic music that sold Arabic coffee, black mint tea, food platters and hour-long hookah rental sessions, with proceeds benefitting the festival. Two booths also offered hard-to-find spices and ingredients for Middle Eastern cooking.

I wandered through other parts of the festival munching on 50-cent baklava and dates, taking in the live music. The lectures and readings at the event ranged from storytelling to travel tips and panels on the current political situations in the Middle East. One panel highlighted immigration from Arab countries to the Northwest, focusing specifically on the latest wave of immigrants from Iraq.

Immigration panel organizer and cooking demo co-host Evette Hackman related the story of a high-school girl who was harassed when she went to school wearing her veil, and eventually decided to go uncovered in order to make life easier.

“Most people don’t know what to do with other cultures and are afraid to ask,” Hackman said.

One thing that attracted me was the Arab fashion show, featuring modern and historical clothing from 22 countries, which showed how cultural attitudes have changed and morphed. I also watched the Karavans Dance Troupe, a group of women whose hips seemed like separate entities from their bodies. The dances were introduced with historical context and done in traditional garb, each a cultural code to decipher.

Both in- and outdoor booths offered Arab-centered services, like information on travel, language classes, an educational resource booth and “kuffiya” clothing. Items for sale from specific countries were also available, including tea, sculptures, posters, jewelry and crafts.

Durr said the event’s exposure of cuisine, dancing and tradition has promoted acceptance of Arab cultures. I certainly came away from the festival with a firmer grasp of previously foreign customs.

Reach reporter Haylee Morse-Miller at arts@dailyuw.com.