Attention, fans of Greek food: We’re entering the prime time of year to visit festivals hosted by Greek Orthodox churches throughout Greater Boston.
Starting this weekend, you can festival-hop in Lowell, Woburn, Arlington, Worcester, Cambridge, Braintree and Watertown, among others.
“June is the perfect month for local Greek festivals because many people go away during the later summer months for vacation,” said Tanya Stamoulis, co-owner of GreekBoston.com. “In particular, the parishioners of the churches and volunteers often spend their summer months in Greece. Also, the weather in June is typically nice and not too hot and humid.”
In Woburn, 200 volunteers prepare for June13-16 Greek Fest
Amelia Hoffman, president of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Woburn, said for the past three months, 200 volunteers have been helping prepare food to be sold at the church’s four-day festival from June 13-16.
“Everything is homemade,” she said. “We’ve learned from generation to generation.”
Hoffman said the festival’s biggest draw is the food. “Everybody loves Greek food and pastry,” she said.
Popular Greek favorites will be available for purchase at Greek Fest 2024 Woburn, including baklava (layers of crispy phyllo dough, honey and nuts), loukoumades (fried dough balls dipped in honey syrup), gyro, spanakopita (spinach and feta between layers of buttered phyllo dough), pastitsio (Greek version of lasagna with a bechamel sauce with parmesan cheese instead of tomato sauce and mozzarella), moussaka (eggplant and potato casserole), beef and chicken souvlaki and of course, roasted lamb.
Festivals are cultural experience including musicians, dancers
But it’s not just about food at these Greek festivals. It’s a whole experience with live Greek musicians and dancers performing throughout the weekend, said Hoffman.
“It’s really important to us to share our culture with our city,” she said.
Last year, about 4,000 people visited Greek Fest and more than $100,000 was raised to benefit the church and its many philanthropies, Hoffman said.
In Andover, bad weather doesn’t deter success
Saint Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Andover and the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England in Boston are among the only regional churches that hold Greek festivals in September.
“It’s a nice way to start the ecclesiastical year and welcome back parishioners and the community from their summer activities,” said Nancy Patsios, co-chair of Saint Constantine’s Greek festival, planned for Sept. 7-8.
Last year, a sudden microburst swept through town during the festival, but it didn’t affect its overall success, she said.
“We were shut down for most of the day on Saturday because we had no power and trees were down in front of our driveway and we had floods,” said Patsios. “But (on Sunday), it was as if it never happened. It continued to rain that evening, but the community supported us. They really came out and it turned out to be a really great event despite what Mother Nature threw at us.”
Here’s a list of upcoming festivals to visit in eastern Massachusetts:
May 31 to June 2
Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, 25 Father Sarantos Way, Lowell
June 6-9
St. Athanasius Greek Orthodox Church, 4 Appleton St., Arlington
June 13-16
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 70 Montvale Ave., Woburn
June 21-23
St. Catherine’s Greek Orthodox Church, 119 Common St., Braintree
Taxiarchae Archangels Greek Orthodox Church, 25 Bigelow St., Watertown
Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 102 Russell St., Worcester
Visit GreekBoston.com for more information about upcoming festivals in New England.
