Large white tents rise each year in June in the parking lot of St. Sophia Church to welcome the community to share in the annual cultural festival. Dancing, music, food and shopping are the order of the day. Enjoy the food, music and dancing outside and then wander inside to find the shops, pastries and coffee. Guided tours, lectures, displays and a visual tour of the Greek Islands can also be found inside.
Under the tents you will find festival dancers moving to the live band. There are performances by traditional costumed dancers, both children and adults. The costumes are different because they are from the region of origin of each dancer. You can ask the dancer where they can trace their ancestry!
While watching the dancing and listening to the band, feast on the fabulous Greek cuisine, served hot under the tent. Enjoy gyros, souvlaki (shish-ka-bob), dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves) and loukaniko (Greek sausage) along with a Greek soda, beer or wine. We have American soda and beer also. We also offer a vegetarian platter. Something for everyone!
Step inside to enjoy some pastries, honey puffs and shopping all contained in a Greek Village. First stop are the loukomades (honey puffs). These are deep fried and smothered in honey syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon. Pure delight for the taste buds. Then wander through the Greek Village to browse through the shops and enjoy the scenic aerial view of the Greek Islands on the stage. No trip to Greece would be complete without the confections of Greece. The pastry chefs of the church have prepared wonderful treats for you. Included in the menu are diples, finikia (walnut cookies), kataifi (shredded filo with walnut filling), koulourakia (braided butter cookies), kourabiedes (shortbread cookies with confectioners sugar), and everyone’s favorite baklava. As festival attendance has grown over the years, confections such as bougatsa (a custard filled pastry) and pastes (cream filled layer cakes) have been added to the dessert lineup as well as risogalo (rice pudding). Bring your sweet tooth!
The Church’s youth groups band together to create a display reflecting their view of their Greek heritage. Look for their display and treat yourself to a custom made pin and some face painting.
Check the flyer for times and speakers giving lectures on Greek History, travel to Greece, Learn to Dance and Speak Greek , Recipe Samples and more. These will be held every day of the Festival. The flyer will also show times for the church tours, given by Father Tom. He is a wonderful speaker, can answer all your questions and will explain all the treasures of our church.
The 35th annual four day Greek Cultural Festival begins June 5th and the enjoyment goes through June 8th, 2008 at St. Sophias Greek Orthodox Church located 325 Waring Road, Syracuse. There is additional parking at 3 nearby schools with a free shuttle to bring you right to the Festival. Due to our large tents, the festival runs rain or shine!
