We at Persian Panthers and PSO - the Persian cultural organizations of Pitt and CMU - are proud to announce that we are going to have the first Persian Cultural Festival in Pittsburgh in years - if not first ever. We are partnering with the well-known local organization, the Waffle Shop, for the event. Many of you already know them through the Kubideh Kitchen. Others please, if you will, take a moment and visit the following links to learn about them:

http://www.kubidehkitchen.com/

http://www.waffleshop.org/tags/?p=703

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08343/933579-53.stm

The festival is going to be held on Saturday, Oct. 2^nd from 5:30pm until midnight at the Waffle Shop (No, NOT Pitt/CMU campus!) and a lounge next door. The address is 124 S Highland Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (corner of Highland and Baum). RSVP is required. Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by Friday, Sep. 24^th (midnight) if you are coming and how many guests you are bringing. Admission fee would be $5 for students and $10 for all others, collected at the door.

Tentative program (the final version to be emailed soon):

• 5:30-7pm: Movie screening
• Movie title: Tehran Does not Have Pomegranates
• Persian-style brewed Tea and snacks served
• 7-8:30pm: Dinner
• A menu consisting of fabulous Persian dishes and Kubideh from the Kitchen
• 8:30-9:30pm: Traditional Music
• 9-9:30pm: Cooking show
• 7:30-9:30pm: Cultural Discussion (parallel with dinner, music, and cooking show)
• Ask and answer questions about Iran’s culture. Chat with anybody you like or join the group discussion.
• 9:30pm-12am: Dance to the Persian beats!

Additional notes:

1. As you see, the program is not final. So if you are interested to contribute to the event, specially if you play Persian musical instruments, can perform traditional dance, or can do a quick cooking show, we would like to hear from you. We will do our best to include it in the program if you let us know as soon as possible.
2. Please note that the festival coincides with our annual Mehregan celebration and we have decided to merge the two events.
3. Compared to PSO and Persian Panthers regular celebrations, this event would be a bit more casual. Also, there would be a limited number of seats which means you might have to enjoy your dinner while standing. We do understand it may not be very comfortable and apologize about it; but we believe it would provide a greater chance of mixing with the people over there which we hope you would find appealing.