The Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, a national organization, seeks to help those in need through fund-raising efforts. The Birmingham chapter of the ladies started the Greek Food Festival to promote these efforts in 1972, eventually handing over the reigns to the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. For decades, the festival has grown from humble roots to the popular attraction that it is today. The festival now takes a year to plan, with organizers cooking 37,000 pounds of ground beef and 3,000 pounds of rice in preparation. More than 20,000 meals were served in 2012, and all profits go to charitable ministries run by the church.
The grounds of the Holy Trinity Church turn into a maze of tents and vendors. Each vendor sells a specific type of Greek food under a professionally made sign, so it's easy to get your favorite treats. Inside a wing of the church is a stage with live music where festival-goers can enjoy the occasional Greek dance put on by troupes from the Holy Trinity Sunday School. Ask a ranking member of the church for a tour of the cathedral, where you'll step back in time to enjoy ceiling art and iconography from the Byzantine era. Sometimes the entire festival comes to a grinding halt for charity. In 2012, 5-year-old sickle-cell patient Ceanna Ware became the star attraction when she was gifted her wish -- a playhouse.
Greek food utilizes flavored meats. Souvlakia is marinated lamb on a skewer, gyros feature seasoned beef with tsaziki sauce on pita bread, and Greek chicken gets basted in olive oil, lemon juice and oregano. Feta cheese and spinach bring out the flavor in Greek salads and fried filo-dough pastry triangles, called pites. Pistacho -- the Greek dish, not the nut -- sits heavy with macaroni, seasoned beef and cream bechamel sauce. Honey, roasted pecans and cinnamon sweeten a variety of different Greek filo-dough dessert pastries, like baklava. Load up on your favorite dish, or sample an abundance of Greek fare.
The festival celebrates from the mid-morning to late at night for three days -- Thursday, Friday and Saturday -- at the end of September every year. The residential neighborhood jams up with traffic during the popular festival, and parking becomes very hard to find around dinner time. The old Liberty National parking deck, a block east on 20th Street, provides free parking. Go in the mid-afternoon on Thursday and Friday to avoid the crunch, and bring plenty of cash. Part of 19th Street is coned off to create a drive-through, where you can call ahead to promptly pick up your order. Expect temperatures in the mid-50s to mid-70s during Birmingham's driest month. Feel good about spending money at the event. It goes to activities for seniors in the area, daycare that provides nutrition, shelter for victims of abuse and much more.
