Panegyri Greek Festival

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After four decades in Finneytown, the Panegyri Greek Festival is practically a force of nature. Over a single weekend, some 25,000 revelers flow through the Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church grounds for shopping, folk music and dancing, rides, retsina, and an insane amount of souvlaki.

Photograph by Teri Campbell

 

Organizers have the thing down to a science: Costumed groups, ranging from little pre-K steppers on up to adult Hellenic dancers, perform on an outdoor main stage along with musicians (psychedelic bouzouki players!) throughout the weekend while booths around the parking lot’s perimeter serve up beef and lamb gyros, Greek pizza, and miles of moussaka.

 

Photograph by Teri Campbell

And behind that main stage, a classic Murray Brothers carnival midway has enough games and rides to render your kids sufficiently exhausted. Inside the church’s Main Hall you’ll find more intimate, smaller-scale music performances and a very large array of Greek pastries (we recommend the galaktobouriko, which is sort of like baklava plus custard). Also inside is the Agora (market) where you can buy everything from Byzantine icons to imported olive oil. In 2016, Panegyri turns 42, so expect plenty of Opa!-worthy celebrating.

Photograph by Teri Campbell

Photograph by Teri Campbell

Photograph by Teri Campbell

7000 Winton Rd., Finneytown, Holytrinity.oh.goarch.org

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