Fortune telling through coffee grinds was just one of the festivities that took place at the ninth annual Florida Turkish Festival on Hollywood Beach Nov. 20.

Turkish coffee, which is a blend of Turkish coffee beans, water and sugar, was served in a teacup to customers. After they drank the coffee, the excess black deposit was flipped using the tea cup plate and a fortune teller would read someone their fortune based on the black lines left on the cup.

Sponsored by the Florida Turkish American Association (FTAA), the Florida Turkish Festival also featured the Turkish folk dance group Ata Turkish. Based in Houston, the group performed dances from Turkey’s different regions, each dance conveying a specific message.

“One of the dances had the dancers left hand up to the sky while the right was down towards the floor. This symbolized talking from God and passing on to man,” Daniel Tcherfas, 18, of Miami, said at the festival.

Of the roughly 5,000 Turkish Americans and descendents in South Florida, about 1,000 attended, a larger attendance than past years, organizers said. The festival used to be held at Huizenga Park in Fort. Lauderdale before it was moved to Hollywood Beach in 2007.

“We decided to bring the festival to the people,” former FTAA president Eric Erkan Nur, 54, of Boca Raton said.

Among those in attendance was Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober. Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency Corporate Relations Manager Nilgun Oren was also on hand to celebrate Turkish culture.

Istanbul Inspirations served as the theme of the festival because Istanbul was named the 2010 European Capital of Culture. The award is given to a city in the European Union each year.

Said to be the only Turkish festival in Florida, the event lasted longer than previous years, to 9 p.m and the event continued a second day, with cooking and art demonstrations at the Florida Turkish Center in Fort Lauderdale.

At the festival, the favorite dish was beef kofte, which sold out midway through the evening. Similar to a gyro, it consists of slow roasted lamb that was spun before it was served in a sandwich.

“That’s what smells so delicious,” Nur said.

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