Students packed Parkes Hall 122 for food, music and dancing at the Middle Eastern North African Student Association’s Taste of MENA event Saturday.
Attendees browsed booths that showcased snacks, drinks and items from countries in the MENA region, as music traditional to the represented countries played over speakers.
“A lot of times, Middle Eastern countries and North African countries are grouped together,” MENA co-President and McCormick junior Batool Salman said. “This event really lets every country shine and show what is special about them.”
Salman said the event reached full capacity last year — the first time it was hosted. Despite an increase in tables this time, Salman said the event still ran out of seating with about 150 attendees.
Organizers encouraged attendees to dress in cultural attire. During the event’s “Fashion Show,” booth representatives walked around the perimeter of the room holding flags from their respective countries.
“We have a lot of drip,” MENA co-President and SESP junior Mahmoud El-Eshmawi said. “It’s just a matter of like, ‘Hey, this is another way of expressing our cultures.’”
As the event wound down, attendees voted for their favorite booths of the night. Sudan’s table won first place, followed by Egypt’s and Iraq’s.
Throughout the evening, students lined up at Sudan’s booth to try the hibiscus flower juice, a traditional beverage in Sudan, McCormick first-year Muzan Abdulla said.
“I’m happy everyone showed up,” she said. “We’re all winners.”
Egypt’s booth was decorated with CDs and film posters, which El-Eshmawi said represented the city’s status as the region’s entertainment hub. Soccer jerseys, including that of Liverpool FC winger Mohamed Salah, lined the wall behind the booth.
Earlier that day, El-Eshmawi said he called his mother asking for directions and ingredient amounts to make Roz bil Laban, an Egyptian rice pudding. The dish was just one of many items he brought from his apartment to the event.
“My apartment is hollow at the moment,” he said.
The booth also offered macarona bechamel — which El-Eshmawi said is his favorite dish — and sobia, a sweet beverage.
Most booth offerings were homemade. SESP sophomore Lana Alnajm, who serves as MENA’s Associated Student Government senator, said her family members pitched in to help make dishes for Iraq’s booth.
One of the dishes the booth offered was kibbeh, which Alnajm said is made with rice, ground beef, parsley and various spices.
“The homemade things are things you will often not find or see in any restaurant,” she said.
For Alnajm, the event offered a way to represent her culture at Northwestern, especially after no longer celebrating Arab Heritage Month in NU dining halls, she said.
In April 2025, NU apologized for and condemned a performance held in Sargent Dining Hall by a local Arab dance group, intended to celebrate Arab Heritage Month.
“This is kind of our way of taking that back and allowing the community to cultivate awareness about our culture, but also celebrate as well,” Alnajm said.
MENA Advocacy committee member and Weinberg sophomore Ameera Hamadeh said she hopes the event helps community members, especially on NU’s campus, learn more about different cultures in the MENA region.
Hamadeh tabled at Palestine’s booth, which had a keffiyeh draped around it to symbolize Palestinian resistance, she said. Olive trees also surrounded the booth.
“At NU, we don’t get a lot of opportunities to demonstrate our culture in a positive light,” Hamadeh said. “Being able to do that at Taste of MENA, and seeing how people have been so receptive and really supportive, makes me really happy and gives me hope for the future.”
El-Eshmawi said the event’s turnout was encouraging, despite this only being its second year.
Attendees, coming from MENA and non-MENA backgrounds alike, had arrived at Parkes Hall up to 15 minutes early, he said.
“Although it is important to shed light on the struggles that we’re facing, I think it’s just as important to celebrate the beautiful parts of the culture,” El-Eshmawi said.
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