It’s Greek-To-Go in downtown Augusta next week.
Members of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church will present a scaled-down Greek Festival March 11-14.
“We did this in October,” said Penelope Ballas Stewart, one of the co-chairs for the event. “It went great. We had such a wonderful response.”
Orders are already being taken at the website greekfestivalaugusta.com for drive-thru and delivery. The menu includes a host of Greek specialties including spanakopita, baklava, feta fries, gyros and souvlaki.
While Stewart is glad to share their traditional Greek cuisine with Augustans, she is sad that it’s not the full-scale weekend event that has been celebrated for more than 30 years. In typical years, there’s a smaller spring event with a full-scale celebration in the fall. But all of them had the in-person interaction element.
That’s one thing Stewart misses the most.
“The Greek festival isn’t the same without the live music, dancing and bar,” she said. “It’s such a part of our culture to celebrate. Also, we can’t have our tours of the church. This is a ministry opportunity to share about our faith.”
Stewart said this year’s spring festival will be held earlier than in previous ones.
The Greek Orthodox Church follows a different church calendar from other western Christian denominations. The Greek Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar not the Gregorian calendar and its observance of Easter falls on May 2 this year.
Stewart said members didn’t want to have the festival during their Lenten period because of fasting requirements.
Stewart said she hopes that the fall festival will be able to return as in the past.
If people don’t order online early, Stewart said it will be okay. There’s an ordering system in place on site, so people can order and pick up their food.
The festival will be from 4 to 8 p.m. March 11, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 12 and 13 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 14.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
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