Celebrating Cyrus the Great - Persian Festival of Autumn

The 11th Annual Mehregan Festival is planned for Saturday and Sunday, September 9 and 10 at the Orange County Fair & Expo Center in Costa Mesa, CA. This annual Persian event attracts thousands of people to Orange County, CA. It is the largest Iranian-American gathering in the United States.

Mehregan, the Persian Festival of Autumn, will be celebrated on Saturday September 9 and Sunday September 10, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Orange County Fair & Exposition Center, 88 Fair Drive Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Telephone (714) 708-1500

The 11th annual event celebrates Persian culture with music, dance, artwork, crafts, traditional Persian cuisine, Traditional Tea House, and costumes. The front gate at the festival, designed to evoke Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire will greet thousands of visitors.

Admission: Adults: $20 (advance) 25 (event days) Children (under 10 years) Free. Parking is FREE Tickets: at the Gate, Ticketmaster, Persian stores Orange County: Wholesome Choice, Super Irvine, Crown Valley Market Place, Jordan Market, Mission Ranch Market LA and Valley: Ketab Corp.,Music Box, Eilat Market Glendale: Avakian, Pacific Food Market, Qmarket, Super Saman, Woodland Hills Market

Address: 88 Fair Drive (Fairview & Arlington) Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Fair Phone: (714) 708-FAIR (3247)

This year’s festival is dedicated the famous Persian King, Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty and the creator of the Cyrus Cylinder, considered being the first declaration of human rights.

The festival grounds are decorated with artifacts reminding the visitors of history and the contribution this king has made to human kind. The front gate at the festival, designed to evoke Persian history through a time tunnel with images, decorations, and artifacts of different times as well as Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Empire, will greet thousands of visitors. There will be multimedia presentations reflecting the work of this great king.

Cyrus may have been the last decent Iranian...

Rubbish; most of them are just fine. They have some leaders who need killin', but I've known a lot of Persians (including a fraternity brother) who were great folks and true friends of the American way.

Keep in mind that this festival celebrates the pre-Muslim glories of Persia. This would never be allowed in Iran. These are Americanized Persians, by and large, who don't care a fig for the mullahs and are glad to be here where they don't have to live under Sharia law.

-ccm

2)This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

" 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.

3)Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.

4) And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.' " -- Ezra 1:2-4

A truly remarkable prophecy written by the Prophet Isaiah a few hundred years before Cyrus defeated Babylon. The story is that the prophet Daniel approached Cyrus the morning after Babylon's overnight and nearly bloodless overthrow and showed him these writings of Isaiah. He was so overwhelmed by God's calling of him by name, that this is what led to Cyrus to not only free the Jews from Babylon captivity, but also gave them supplies and papers of authority to rebuild The Temple of Jerusalem.

Cyrus, a pagan, did not "Know God", as is pointed out below, yet he was called for God's purpose. He is the only gentile in the Old Testament that is referred by God as "His Annointed". And if you know the history of how he drained the river in order to gain entrance of the city state, this passage speaks volumes.

Isaiah 44

24) "This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

25) who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense,

26) who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, 'They shall be built,' and of their ruins, 'I will restore them,'

27) who says to the watery deep, 'Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,'

28) who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid." '

Isaiah 45

1) This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

2) I will go before you and will level the mountains [a] ; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.

3) I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

4) For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.

5) I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,

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