Greek festival offers ethic food and dancing, brings community together

For the 58th consecutive year, Fresno Greek Fest celebrated and showcased Greek life through dancing, live music, shopping and traditional food. This year, over 30,000 members from the San Joaquin Valley community participated over the span of three days, Aug. 24-26.

Fresno’s Premier Greek Festival did not always boast such an abundant turnout. The fest began in 1960 as a luncheon for the parishioners to raise funds for the church. What started as a few Greeks gathering to dance and eat traditional meals turned into thousands of people attending the major cultural event to support both the church and the Greek heritage.

The current Greek Orthodox Church began construction on May 9, 1954, and for the next seven months the Fresno Community worked day and night to complete the permanent St. George church. It was consecrated on Nov. 22, 1959, which cause the Greek Festival to take place. 

In the late 2000’s, the people brought two Russian iconographers to finish the arched ceiling inside the church. The painting was done Michelangelo-style, on their backs with small brushes. The effort resulted in an extravagant and expansive mural.

Fr. Jim Pappas starting preaching 26 years ago, and was appointed Pastoral Assistant at the St. Paul Greek Orthodox Church in 1992. Father Jim loves to tell people about Christianity and the history behind it, and Greek Fest gives him the perfect opportunity to do so.

“Today’s culture thinks that Christianity somehow just dropped out of the sky, but there’s a history to Christianity,” Pappas said. “The Christian church survived by word of mouth and tradition. The people lived the faith by what they were being taught in their churches. There were no automobiles, no telephones.

“I love bringing people backwards versus forwards and helping them understand the Christian believer of the early church and the one today,” Pappas continued. “Within this environment, people learn about Christ, and that’s what I love about Greek Fest.”

Coming from Greece as a three year old immigrant and making a life for himself in America, Great Day weatherman Kopi Sotiropulos appreciates the familiar culture he is able to experience and share with others through Greek Fest. Sotiropulos has worked in many TV shows as well as appeared on the news as a co-host for Great Day. His many platforms give him the opportunity to promote the fest as well as support the church he grew up in.

“I work in television and I’ve been fortunate enough to have a job that I love that gives me a certain amount of visibility in the community, so I can use that to promote the festival,” Sotiropulos said. “I don’t do it for myself, I do it for the church. By coming to a festival like this, or any other cultural festival, you learn about another culture, you learn about our faith and you learn about our beautiful church.”

The festival offered many cultural foods for guests, such as Souvlaki (pork on a stick), Greek fries and Halloumi (Cypriot-fried cheese), which is only found at Greek Fest. These dishes were made and prepared by volunteers who offered to help out at the event.

Decade-long volunteer festival chairman Peter Vallis started working at Greek Fest at five years old. Although he just poured soda pop for customers, the event has affected his life greatly. Because he was in charge of the festival, Vallis met his wife, as she was a volunteer. One of his favorite parts about working at Greek Fest is the people he gets to spend time with.

“We’ve got volunteers that work all year to put this on and it’s really an incredible group of people we get to spend a lot of time with in organizing and putting things together,” Vallis said. “But it’s cool to see the throngs of people that show up to enjoy the event and the smiles on their faces and when they leave they’re so happy. That is so wonderful for us because the biggest thing about the Greek culture is hospitality. So the more people we can welcome into our house that can enjoy themselves, when they leave satisfied and happy we win.”

Fresno Greek Fest has many interesting aspects that attract so many people, especially the food. There are no longer any Greek restaurants in Fresno, so Greek Fest is the only place people can buy authentic Greek Food in town It is also the only Greek Festival west of the Mississippi that cooks 94% of its food from scratch. 

Campus senior Sophia Kalugin visited the festival and enjoyed the busy atmosphere as well as the unique meals the event offered.

“I really enjoyed Greek Fest,” Kalugian said. “My favorite part was the unique foods they offered. People should go to Greek Fest because it provides a glimpse into authentic Greek culture in the Fresno community. I really enjoy the Greek pastries, specifically the baklava.”

The St. George Greek Orthodox church still accepts donations from the Fresno community. If you would like to donate, go to their website.

For more articles, read Seniors share hopes, aspirations for final year of high school and Football squad aims for 4th consecutive championship.

Kamryn Schultz and Alexander Rurik can be reached via twitter @schultz_kam @alexrurik23 and via email, [email protected] and [email protected].