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SALT LAKE CITY — Food, dance, culture and fun will come to one venue this weekend during the 39th Annual Salt Lake Greek Festival.
The festival runs Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5 and 6, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday, Sept 7, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is hosted by the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake, held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, 279 S. 300 West.
For $3, people can get a glimpse of the Greek culture and experience authentic Greek music, dance and food. Those who have never attended the event can experience what festival public relations manager Alexis Coplin describes as "Greek hospitality."
"When you walk through the doors, you are brought into our family," she said. "You get food, you get smells, you get the music, you can go into the church and see the beauty of the cathedral, there’s a museum. There’s just a lot here to kind of merge yourself into the Greek culture."
Dancing runs from 3:30 until after 10 p.m. on Friday, from 11:45 a.m. until after 10 p.m. on Saturday and from noon until 7 p.m. on Sunday, with four groups performing in a rotation. Performances include the Kalamatiano, Greece's national dance, Hassapiko, a dance that has its origins from the Byzantine period, and the Tsamiko, which combines men showing off their acrobatic skills and women performing basic and variant steps, according to the festival's website.
Along with cathedral and museum tours, a choir will perform at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 3 p.m on Sunday.
The festival will have a children's area which includes bounce houses, face painting and carnival-type rides.
Of course, the festival will also serve authentic Greek food including gyros, dolmathes and baklava, according to the festival's website. The food and carnival rides will cost extra.
Last year the church was hit by financial woes that caused the pay to cease for the parish's three priests. According to Coplin, the festival is an extension of the Greek community not just the church, and was not affected because the finances for both are "a little bit separate."
Proceeds from the event will go to supporting the two campuses of the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake and community charities.
There will be credit card readers at the festival entrance and food vendors and ATMs located on site.
When asked what brings people back year after year, Coplin said, "I think the food and the energy and the music and the dancing. Everything. It's the whole package."
For information about the festival saltlakegreekfestival.com/index.php; for a schedule of events visit saltlakegreekfestival.com/pdf/schedule.pdf. Email: wevans@deseretnews.com Twitter: whitevs7
