Our Lady of Purgatory Maronite Catholic Church hosts its 70th annual Mahrajan this September, just a couple of blocks from our office here in New Bedford. The three-day festival runs from Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 13, 2026, and it’s free to attend.
If you’ve never been, it’s one of the SouthCoast’s longest-running community celebrations, and a good excuse to spend a weekend evening downtown.
What Is the Mahrajan Festival?
Mahrajan is Arabic for “festival,” and this one belongs to Our Lady of Purgatory, a Maronite Catholic parish on Acushnet Avenue serving New Bedford’s Lebanese community. The parish treats the Mahrajan as its biggest fundraiser of the year, and it draws visitors well beyond the parish itself, including neighbors, sister churches, and families from across New England.
2026 Festival Dates and Location
- Friday, September 11: 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM
- Saturday, September 12: 12:00 PM to 11:00 PM
- Sunday, September 13: 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM
- Address: 4254 Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford, MA 02745
- Admission: Free
What Can You Expect There?
Expect saj bread made to order, kebab, wraps, and trays of baklava, alongside a full bar and hookah lounge. Live music runs all weekend, with Bashir El-Khoury Band, singer Mitchel Kaltsunas on Friday, Ahmad AlKaisi on Saturday, and the Wood Dr. Band playing Saturday afternoon. There’s also dabke, a Levantine line dance popular at Lebanese celebrations, plus raffles with cash prizes of $1,000, $500, and $200 drawn Sunday at 4:00 PM.
One note if you’re headed over: the festival doesn’t allow outside food, drink, or hookah.
If you’re not familiar with dabke, it’s worth a look before you go. Wikipedia has a solid overview of its history and how the dance works.
70 Years of Local Tradition
Seventy years is a long run for any community event, and it says something about how deep the parish’s roots are in the North End. The Mahrajan isn’t just a fundraiser. It’s a chance for the parish to show off Lebanese hospitality and cooking to a crowd that grows every year, and for a lot of New Bedford families, it’s become an early-September tradition of its own.
New Bedford’s calendar is full of moments like this one, and we like sharing them. If you’re stopping by the festival, our office isn’t far, so feel free to swing by and say hello.