Pleasant Patio Dining
Here a few photos from the annual Greek Festival held on the grounds of the St. George Greek Orthodox Church in the nearby city of Fresno.
There were drinks available in the form of beer, mixed drinks and soft drinks. Also Greek and regular coffee to have with your dessert.
Beer & Wine Booth
Fancy Bar Booth featuring Greek Ouzo
View of the crowd and booths from the fancy bar area
In the photo below you can see where you can visit when you drink too much and nature calls. The festival organizers went all out for their guest's comfort. This is the first time I have seen actual "his" and "hers" porta potties at a local event. The blue ones were for men to use, the tan colored ones were for women.
Potter's Potties ~ both men's and women's
Along with the drinks there was delicious food available. You could buy the complete dinner plate for $15 or you could purchase items a la carte. Here's a photo of the dinner line inside the multi purpose room of the church.
Traditional Greek dishes attracted a crowd of hungry people
Outside you could buy smaller plates of food or single items at the many food booths on the grounds. A new item this year was Greek Feta Fries.
Food Booths
Food Booth Signs
There were many places to sit and dine in comfort. They had chairs and tables available both in the front of the festival as shown below on the patio, and also in the back by the musicians and the dancers.
Front Patio Dining Area
There were many Greek desserts to indulge in after our dinner. Below you see the traditional Greek cookies called Koulourakia, but we also sampled some Baklava and Loukomades, both dripping with honey sweetness.
There was shopping! Lots of goods from Greece and also things made here in the US by Greeks who live here.
Vendor Booths
Beautiful & Functional Ceramic Art
Greek Religious Icons & Monastery Honey for sale
Carefully working the register
Fancy Jewelry and Baubles
Greek Fisherman's Cap & World's Greatest "Grandpa" Cap
The Greek Nuns had many wonderful handmade products for sale. Wonderful multi grain fresh breads and jams. They had hand dipped beeswax candles, lovely soaps, oils and lotions. Visiting with the nuns was very pleasant and informative.
Handmade Products
Greek music both traditional and modern blared from the large speakers in the dancing area in back of the festival. Dressed in traditional Greek garb, Kopi Sotiropulos, weatherman for channel 26 in Fresno was m/c and general entertainer. Here he is instructing the crowd in Greek dancing. He's the one in the white skirt.
Go Kopi!
Dancers in fancy costumes entertained us with their intricate footwork.
Costumed Dancers in a circle
We had a wonderful time and will be back next year!
The Fresno Greek Festival is held in August of each year. For more information about it please visit the Fresno GreekFest Website.
© Copyright 2008 North Fork News
