'Tis the season of festivals and learning about cultures. This weekend you can check out multiple festivals across the region, including Greekfest at the State Fairgrounds.
Ruth Brzezinski and her friends look forward to these months all year long, and the weather couldn’t be better to go to Greekfest.
“We’ve been coming for over 40 years. We’re Polish. They’re Italian,” Brzezinski said. “We froze at Polishfest so we had to come to Greekfest.”
Her friend, Sharon Raffaele felt the same way.
“Good day for the first day of summer,” Raffaele said.
This Friday the sun was shining, the music was playing, and the cheese was flaming.
All weekend families will be coming to the State Fairgrounds to get a little “taste” of Greek culture, and raise money for the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.
Volunteers from the church like Daniel Argyres run the event, which is something that’s passed down from generation to generation.
“It’s not considered work. It’s just we dedicate this time, this weekend to Greekfest and it’s what we do,” Argyres said.
Argyres and his buddies will be cooking up to 5,000 rotisserie chickens with their secret seasoning.
“Just to watch that slow-cooking process people are kind of in awe of,” Argyres said.
Then there’s another group, including Ann Karvelas, making the flaming cheese known as saganaki.
“It’s a part of the show. It’s awesome because people want to hear us. They’re like ‘ooo who’s screaming?’”
What it all comes down to is coming together and sharing their heritage.
“It’s funny. We’re in the United States and we’re such a melting pot of people, but this gives us an opportunity to give people a little window of what our Greek culture’s like,” volunteer, Anna Losey said.
All that’s left to say is — Opa!
Greekfest runs all weekend: Friday until 11 p.m. Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Parking costs $5, but admission is free.
