30 July 2011

BEIRUT: More than 10,000 people are expected to put on their dancing shoes next week in the village of Dhour Choueir in Metn in bid to smash the current world record for the largest Dabke.

The dance is being held on Aug. 7 as part of the new Lebanon Alertness Day, which will also feature awareness campaigns on the dangers of tobacco, drugs and speeding.

The day’s activities are part of Dhour Choueir’s annual Emigrants Festival and are being organized by the Lebanon Alertness Day Committee and sponsored by the village’s mayor, Elias Saab.

“We believe that the Dabke is a great idea as it aims to bring together all Lebanese people, regardless of their sects, religions and political affiliations,” said Sakha Moujaes, the head of the committee, speaking at a news conference Friday.

The current world record for the largest Dabke was set by a group of nearly 5,000 dancers two years ago in Montreal, Canada, in an event organized by a Lebanese student group.

In addition to dancing the Dabke, Lebanon Alertness Day will include a variety of activities and programs including the barbecuing of a 100 meter meat skewer in an attempt at the world record for the longest such item.

Chef Antoine Hajj, who hosts a daily cooking program on Tele-Liban, announced that the skewer will use around a ton of meat imported from Brazil, and will be prepared by around 120 chefs and 100 culinary students.

“Everyone is invited to taste the most delicious meat skewer in the world for free. I will work on a magical mix for the meat so that it will have the special taste of the village of Dhour Choueir,” said Hajj, who also promised that the meat will be halal and tested according to international food safety standards.

“Most importantly, the quality of the meat will be just as good at the beginning of the skewer as at the end of it,” Hajj added.

Lebanon Alertness Day will be “a history-making day” for the country, according to one of the committee’s members, as it will be the first time in the Middle East that a country is awarded two Guinness World Records on the same day.

Other activities will include musical performances by Lebanese artists such as Toni Kiwan, Sami Clark, Eli Choueiri and Hisham Hajj. A Harley Davidson show will also take place to raise awareness on motorcycle safety.

Moujaes said the event took nearly four months of preparation, during which the committee met with numerous civil society organizations, such as Kunhadi, Tobacco Free Initiative, the Nusroto al-Anashid Association, and the Cenacle of the Son of Man anti-drug group.

Hana Rustom, board member of the Lebanese-American Association, lamented how cigarettes and water pipes have become a social norm among Lebanese youth and called on parents to increase their children’s awareness of the dangers of smoking.

“Do not allow yourselves to be guinea pigs to these tobacco corporations which are benefiting at the expense of your health,” Rustom said at the news conference.

As part of their commitment to making Lebanon Alertness Day a day for Lebanese people of all sects and religions, the committee members stressed that meals would be set aside for those who are observing fasting during the month of Ramadan.

Copyright The Daily Star 2011.