Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is once again presenting Fort Wayne Greek Fest, their four-day family-friendly community gathering for Greek food and entertainment, under the pavilion at Headwaters Park.

Hours for the annual event are 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, June 22-24, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, June 25. Admission is free Thursday-Saturday until 4 p.m., and $5 after those hours for those 17 and older. Admission is free all day Sunday. 

What’s on the menu?

The food, prepared by members of the church, is the main attraction. These days, there aren’t many restaurants that specialize in traditional Greek cuisine in Fort Wayne, so lots of folks look forward to Greek Fest each year to get that taste of home.

Dinner entrees range from $9-$18 and include gyros, lamb and beef wrapped in pita bread; roasted lamb shank; pork and chicken souvlaki skewers; pastichio, or Greek beef lasagna; moussaka, ground beef, eggplant, and potato; spanakopita, chopped spinach and cheese wrapped in filo dough; tiopita, cheese in filo dough; and, of course, Greek salad with feta, kalamata olives, and Greek dressing.

Over at the pastries booth, you can find baklava, the ever-popular dessert made with filo crust, walnuts, butter, and honey; katafi, like baklava with cinnamon and cloves; karidopita, spiced walnut cake; koulourakia, butter cookies for dipping in coffee; kourabeides, butter cookies with pecans; melomakarona, orange-flavored spice cookies; paximadia, biscotti for coffee; and tsoureki, sweet bread.

An ice cream booth will sell loukoumades, doughnut holes with syrup; baklava sundae; soft-serve ice cream; Greek coffee; and slushies and soft drinks

The Taverna, the adult beverage area, will be serving saganaki, cheese doused with brandy and set aflame. They will also serve Greek beer and wine, domestic beer and wine, and hard seltzer.

You can order delivery from the festival to you by contacting Waiter on the Way, at fortwayne.waiterontheway.biz or by calling (260) 442-3663.

Live music will be provided all four days by a group from Ohio called Lazarus that performs on traditional Greek acoustic instruments. 

A vendor named Buy Greek Art will sell T-shirts, jewelry, pottery, statuettes, and other Greek-themed items.

Church members will provide activities for children as well.

A word from your hosts

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church was founded in Fort Wayne in 1960. Frank Makridakis, the spokesperson for the event, is the son of immigrants who came to the U.S. in 1967. He is always excited about the church’s outreach to the community, sharing Greek culture and food.

The event kicks off at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 22, with a blessing in Greek and English from Father Cosmin Sicoe, Holy Trinity’s priest. Then it’s on to four days of food, music, and dancing. 

Holy Trinity has a number of traditional dance groups in colorful native costume, starting with the Kala Paidia for young children, moving up to the Meraklides and the Omega groups for the grownups. They are all under the direction of Stella Skembos, and the whole troupe is called the Triada Dancers.

“One of the most important aspects of the festival is the food, but I would actually say the dancing is almost as important,” Makridakis said. “Greeks, they tend to articulate or show their emotions through dance. That’s why if you watch a lot of the dances, they have meaning behind them.

“I’m biased, of course,” he added cheerfully. “But I do think it’s the best family festival there is around. Everything’s done by the volunteers. 

“We have the food under the pavilion, the music, the dancing. You’ve got pastries and cookies like crazy all over. You’ve got ice cream. 

“It’s one of the highlights of everybody’s day. You’ve got a little bar area for adults to get Greek wine, Greek beer. You’ve got different things for kids and it’s all under the pavilion. It’s a nice secure area where our kids can run around essentially free to do whatever they want. We have security there.

“You can come down, you can get lunch, you can listen to music, dance, get yourself some treats, cookies, a sundae, ice cream, have a drink. You could actually go out, play in the park, come back in and it’s time for dinner again. 

“I tell everybody, you come to the festival, if you don’t leave smiling, come see me,” he said. “There’s no way you can come down here and spend a little bit of time without being in a great mood.”