Festival celebrates food, music and culture of Greece

Everyone is Greek in the Ocean City convention center a few days ago, where thousands will celebrate the Greek music culture, including its music, dancing, food and, obviously, its decadent pastries, throughout the 22nd annual Greek Festival.
Not everybody can go to Greece for vacation, so St. George Greek Orthodox Church tries to bring just a little piece of the nation to the 40th Street venue.
Alexandra Hall, promotions chairperson for that festival, said thousands of guests attend the annual three-day event, the church’s largest annual fundraiser. Some visitors even plan their holidays around it.
Parishioners from the 88th Street church have decorated the convention center with lots of of the country’s flags, posters, blue and white tablecloths and Greek decor.
A number of pre-packaged pastries is available at St. George Greek Orthodox Church’s annual Greek Festival in the Ocean City convention center.
Live music and dancing will start at 5 p.m. each evening.
“It’s rock 'n roll Greek style during the night. It’s when things really get rolling,” Hall said. “It’s for the entire family. Come grab help and just have some fun. Babies to little old ladies take presctiption the party area. Everyone is thanks for visiting take part in the festivities and become Greek for that weekend.”
The Zephyros band will give you classic Greek music nightly, while Evangelakia will demonstrate traditional Greek folk dancing.
Regardless of the musical entertainment lineup, Hall said the largest attraction for visitors may be the authentic Greek cuisine.
“We do as numerous of the authentic Greek dishes once we can. We're really blessed to possess wonderful bakers and cooks as people in the church,” she said.
The men of St. George Church prepare the foodstuff, while the women focus on the pastries. All of the food is homemade in the church by volunteers.
“People come for that food and they stay for that fun, this guitar rock band, the dancing and also the vendors,” Hall said. “They come for supper, then they’ll visit the beach or even the Boardwalk, and come back for lunch.”
Menu items include keftedes (traditional Greek meatballs), dolmathes (grape leaves rolled around spicy ground beef with rice and topped with avgolemono, an egg-lemon sauce), pastitso, (Greek lasagna) and moussaka, a baked dish with eggplant, ground beef, onions, tomatoes and cheese.
Other popular items include spinach pie (spanakopita), tiropita, manestra, ratatouille (fresh seasoned vegetables) along with a half-chicken kotopoulo (marinated with oregano, lemon and seasoning). Salads, gyros, lamb shanks, shish kabobs, Greek sausage and all-beef hotdogs are also available.
To fulfill that sweet tooth, you will see diples (pastry dough fried and drizzled with honey and topped with nuts and cinnamon), walnut cake (karithopita), paximadia (almond biscotti-like cookies) and tsoureki (sweet egg bread), amongst others. And, the festival wouldn't be complete without baklava.
A number of prepackaged pastries may also be available for people who can’t decide on one.
Vendors may also be selling crafts and arts, Greek religious icons and artifacts, jewelry, clothing, music and children’s items.
People to the festival may have the chance to win $5,000. Only 100 raffle tickets is going to be sold at $100 each. Guests can also get the opportunity to collect a $1,000 cash prize or perhaps a Roketa motor scooter.
Greek Festival hours are Friday and Saturday, noon to 11 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. Admission is free of charge each day until 4 p.m. and $3 after. Children 14 and younger are admitted free when combined with an adult.