Related:

• Greek Festival schedule of events
• A look at other upcoming festivals

HUNTINGTON -- The lamb is on the spit. The Mythos is on ice. The icons have been cleaned, the Baklava boxed and Huntington's biggest neighborhood festival is just about ready for take-off.

Filling the Southside with mouth-watering smells for the past 25 years, the Greek Festival at the St. George Orthodox Church, 701 11th Ave., is set to roll 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Featuring dancing at 6 p.m. Friday; 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 and 3:30 p.m. Sunday, as well as Greek folk music, church tours, a gift shop and a guest speaker, the family-friendly fest is free and open to the public.

Father Mark Elliott said the ever-growing festival has been a wonderful way for the church to give back to the community and to share its culture and history.

Folks started planning the church in 1940 and it was officially chartered on Dec. 9, 1948.

"The community pride has really swelled with this festival," Elliott said. "Everybody has a pride in who they are and this has become a way for our community to show its pride and cultural heritage."

For perhaps, good reason, one of the first things folks think about the Greek community is their rich history of making those labor-intensive, layered Greek pastries, as well as the fresh, roasted lamb and authentic side dishes.

On the church grounds, you can order 11 different items that include roasted lamb, gyros, Greek pizza, ice cream, Greek hot and iced coffee and Souvlaki, which is marinated pork or chicken cubes on a skewer wrapped in pita bread, topped with tzaziki sauce.

Down in the church hall (in the basement of the church), you can order up any of 18 different items including a variety of homemade dinners and labor-intensive dishes such as Pastichio and Moussaka (baked casseroles), Spanakopita and Tiropitas (phyllo dough-wrapped appetizers) and Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves).

Church member Dee Butler, who has been making pastries with Sylvia Baker and Nancy Skirpan, said they started in May and June baking and freezing the baklava and the other wide assortment of Greek pastries.

This week, they will have packed up 350 variety boxes of dozen different pastries pears, nut rolls, coconut swirls and bird's nests.

"Each year we seem to add something," Butler said. "It may be minor but we keep adding. We added some new pastries last year and those went very well. I do believe this year we have some inflatables for the kids and that is another plus."

Elliott said coming to the festival lets his parishioners share the many facets of their religions and culture, each equally as rich and layered as the baklava.

"Let's fact it, most people when they think of the Greek community their thoughts go to the food," Elliott said, "Clearly every culture and certainly ours is more than that. There is also a rich heritage to the dancing and the music and our faith heritage is even more rich. Clearly people are not really aware of Eastern Christianity as they probably should be, and this is a chance to show the face of the church."

Showing that face includes tours of the church with its faith-filled artwork of the icons in the windows of the church, explanations of the church beliefs, and this year, a special guest.

Father Daniel Byantoro, an orthodox priest from Indonesia will be a guest at the church on Friday and Saturday, and then will be traveling to Holy Cross Monastery in Wayne County on Sunday.

Elliott said they are excited to host Byantoro who founded the Greek Orthodox Church in Indonesia, which is officially a Muslim country.

Starting about 15 years ago, Byantoro has built up a congregation of about 2,000 members.

"His church is 2,000 people so far from absolutely nothing -- that is pretty remarkable," Elliott said. "He seems to have gone on somewhat of an odyssey in his time."

Elliott said a guest such as Byantoro punctuates the fact that orthodox Christianity isn't just an ethnic church but one that does appeal to a large group of people around the world, regardless of cultural backgrounds.

"It is a very ancient expression of Christianity and it has an appeal to a very large group of people," Elliott said. "It has its roots in the Balkans and the Middle East and in the case of Father Daniel into east Asia. It really is an international expression of Christianity."

The Herald-Dispatch

Baklava may be a highlight, but this weekend's annual Greek Festival is a showcase of culture and heritage.

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