Visitors to St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church of Maryland in Cooksville this weekend can experience a Mediterranean market, purchase Egyptian souvenirs, and try out Mediterranean cuisine while celebrating Egyptian culture and history at the church’s annual Egyptian Festival today.

The church has a history dating back more than three decades. The first few Coptic families in the region rented a church once a month for a liturgy and by the 1990s, the Coptic community had grown enough to buy a formerly Protestant church in Savage.

The building was transformed into a Coptic church, adding an altar and icons consecrated by His Holiness Pope Shenouda in 1994, later receiving its own full-time priest.

As the congregation continued to grow, the building became crowded for services and Sunday school, so the church moved to its current building in Cooksville. The building had been a Catholic school, which allows plenty of room for Sunday school lessons. Church services are temporarily being held in a multi-purpose room.

Moving forward, the congregation is looking to build a new church building on the property, and the annual festival’s proceeds will help toward that goal.

As a part of the festival, visitors will have the opportunity to participate in a guided tour of the church’s Coptic Museum, which tells the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt.

Exhibits include ancient Bibles and scrolls, icons of saints and traditional religious apparel worn by clergy.

The annual Egyptian Festival takes place at St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church of Maryland at 14196 Frederick Road in Cooksville, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today.

For more information, go to saintmarycoptic.org.