Festival Showcases Greek Traditions

The festival will be held at East Chapel Hill High School, located at 500 Weaver Dairy Road, and is sponsored by St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church of Durham and Chapel Hill.

Festivities will run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. There will be no charge for admission.

According to a press release from the church, the festival will feature Greek food, such as leg of lamb, moussaka and pastichio. Cooking demonstrations will take place for visitors to the festival.

The Rev. Father Andrew Koufopoulos, the parish priest at the St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church in Durham, said this year's festival will include an increased diversity of venders, who will sell everything from ceramics and jewelry to Greek sailor hats.

Many of the festival's exhibit booths will offer slices of Greek culture, while one, called the Kafenion, will be selling Greek coffee.

Following the theme of showcasing traditional Greek food, the Bakaliko -- a booth simulating a Greek county store -- will provide staple ingredients, such as grapevine leaves for Greek food recipes.

Koufopoulos said one of the strongest draws to the festival are the pastries that vendors sell, which he added are often in high demand. "Last year we sold out of everything by Sunday," he said.

Craft booths also will be on display, featuring the work of local parishioners.

Paintings of Greece by Pandelis Zografi, a Raleigh artist, will be displayed, as will Eastern Orthodox icons made by Matt Barrett, also a local craftsman.

Koufopoulos said this year's festival also will be distinguished by the performance of dancers from Greek organizations at Duke University and UNC-CH.

Athan Vrettos, president of UNC's Hellenic Student Association, said members of UNC's organization are scheduled to dance at 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.

Vrettos said the group's primary reason for participating in the festival is to lend a helping hand to the local Greek community. "We're just going to go out there and help the church out whatever way we can," Vrettos said.

Parts of the proceeds from the festival will go to a Sept. 11 disaster relief fund, an East Chapel Hill High School senior in the form of a Classics Department college scholarship, the American Red Cross and the St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church Building Fund.

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.