The Bekaa Kafra Year
The dates the village lives by — the July feasts of Saint Charbel and the summer return — always sorted to what comes next.
Bekaa Kafra keeps two clocks. In winter the highest village in Lebanon is often snowed in and nearly empty; in summer it fills again as emigrant families return, and the year peaks around the feast of Saint Charbel — born here in 1828 — in the third week of July. These are the dates that come around every year. In the cold months, check "Snow & the Road Up" before driving up.
Happening now
The summer return
1 June–30 September 2026
Roughly June to September, the village comes back to life: emigrant families return from abroad, houses reopen, and weddings and family gatherings cluster in the warm months. The return is the village's economic lifeline as much as its social season — it is when the year's fruit, preserves and celebrations find their people.
Through the year
Feast of Saint Charbel (Maronite calendar)
In 16 daysSunday, 19 July 2026 · Maronite Church
The Maronite Church keeps Saint Charbel's feast on the third Sunday of July, and the village's own anniversary celebrations gather around this Sunday — the biggest date of the year in the saint's birthplace, right in the heart of the summer return. In past years the feast week has brought a re-enactment of a traditional 19th-century village wedding in period dress and a fair of homemade local products — the village's apples, cherries and preserves.