By Athena Wolfe
The Santa Cruz Greek Festival will be celebrating its 34th year making it the longest running cultural event in Santa Cruz County. The Greek festival began as a small celebration in the Prophet Elias church courtyard, and has grown over time to a festive and lively block party.
It’s hard to imagine that such a small community could produce so many authentic Greek dishes, consistently from year to year. There are traditional favorites like Gyro, moussaka, calamari, and lamb shank, as well as an entire vegetarian booth with many vegetarian options scattered throughout the festival. People come for the food, but they stay for the dessert and the music.
Following a stroll through traditional savory dishes, festival goers look forward to a bowl of loukoumathes, delicate fried puffs of honeyed dough, sprinkled with cinnamon and doused in syrup. We suggest you make a plan with your friends as to who will wait in line because so many look forward to “louks” each year that they may not make it till almost closing! Of course, there are other traditional desserts as well, such as Baklava in its many iterations, such as chocolate baklava, and baklava cheesecake. Order these with a hot cup of made to order thick Greek coffee and you swear you are in a traditional Kafenio in Greece. There are so many dining courses and options that you should plan on bringing some of them home with you so you won’t miss your favorites.
For entertainment, there is browsing at the Greek Agora, which includes ethnic jewelry, pottery, clothing, and food items. The Kid’s Korner features the popular Mt. Olympus climbing wall, a giant trampoline, and face painting.
A highlight of the festival are the Greek Dancers that come from all over the Bay Area dressed in traditional costumes performing a variety of folk dances that have been handed down for hundreds of years.
The festival runs September 11, 12 and 13, and admission is free. All information, including Dance Performance schedules are posted on the website www.livelikeagreek.com or can be found on Facebook at Santa Cruz Greek Festival.
Bring the whole family and Live Like a Greek for a day!