Taste and nostalgia mixed in Egypt's largest food festival

Egypt's biggest food festival, Cairo Bites, kicked off Friday, introducing both food and fun for thousands of food lovers in the North African country.

In Cairo's famous Merryland Park, thousands of people gathered to have a taste of the food from more than 100 participating restaurants and food-related companies.

The Cairo Bites Festival was first launched in 2014 and has been running annually since then.

The two-day fiesta features a wide and diversified line-up of local, regional as well as international eating establishments in a fun, warm and dynamic environment identified as the ultimate showcase of the Egyptian food industry.

Beside, this year's festival is not only an event about food.

Mixing up the nostalgic and the contemporary, Cairo Bites brought an ambience for visitor's souls while enjoying the core of festival in sunny summer day.

"The event theme is simply a tribute to the 1980s and 1990s," Marwa Saleh, one of the event organizers, told Xinhua.

"For a nostalgic feel, we chose the Merrylnad Park, a place filled with childhood memories for almost every resident of Cairo, to revive memories in a place where the memories occurred," she added.

Saleh said singers from the 1980s and 1990s will also hold live concerts to intensify the nostalgic feelings among the visitors.

"The event is great. The music and place took me back to school days. When I entered the park and listened to the music, my soul could not handle it. The place really took me down the memory lane," said Mohammed al-Sayed, who was accompanied by his two kids.

However, still, the main goal of the festival is to give food entrepreneurs the opportunity to display their products amid a joyous atmosphere.

"It is very positive to have such festivals in Egypt," Wissam al-Kayyal, owner of a kebab restaurant, told Xinhua. "It is a great chance to market myself and let more people know about my restaurant."

Al-Kayalli, whose restaurant has many branches across the Middle East country, said the event attracts thousands of food lovers, adding that he is very satisfied with the compliments he had received from the visitors.

Alongside the food indulgence, the Cairo Bites invited Egypt's most famous TV chefs to cook live during the two-day event, a move that excited food enthusiast women who gathered around the stage where the chefs performed their cooking shows.

"I follow the shows of these chefs on TV. I'm glad that they are present here today. The festival has really taken good care of everything related to food," said Heba, who visits the festival for the first time.

She added that the event is well organized and there is plenty of delicious food, sweet music and funny shows that "captivated everyone's heart."

"But I most liked the nostalgic thing the event brought to me... I have many memories here and today I brought my baby so she can enjoy what her mother used to do when she was at her age," she said with a smile.