Get over to Holy Trinity church on Saturday for the 20th annual Taste of Greece

By Jon Bodell - Sep 17, 2019 | 0 comments

Louis Manias of Concord grills lamb kebabs while his daughter, Alexandra, talks to a church member during the "A Taste of Greece" Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Concord on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014. Manias, a member of the church, has been serving up food at the festival since its inception 15 years ago. "This is a great chance to expose the church to the community," he said. (JULIE BYRD-JENKINS / Monitor staff) Julie Byrd-Jenkins

The Greek flag hangs off the side of a tent at the "A Taste of Greece" Greek festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Concord on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014. (JULIE BYRD-JENKINS / Monitor staff) Julie Byrd-Jenkins

Lorry Hartofelis (center left) of Concord sings a Greek song with fellow church member Barbara Kalioras (center right) as a group dances at the "A Taste of Greece" Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Concord on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014. Also dancing are Helen Charcalis Erskine (back left) of Memphis, Tenn., Alexis Lopes (back right) of Concord, Michael Karathanasis (front left) of Concord, Catherine Laliotis (front center), 1, of Concord, and Andy Laliotis (front right) of Concord. (JULIE BYRD-JENKINS / Monitor staff) Julie Byrd-Jenkins

Baklava. Moussaka. Lamb kebabs. Dancing in circles.

What do all of these things have in common? They will all be part of the 20th annual Taste of Greece Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church this Saturday.

If you’ve never been to any of the previous 19 Taste of Greece festivals, you’ve really been missing out on some good stuff. The event is an all-day celebration of Greek culture held on the property of the Greek Orthodox church right in downtown Concord. While the food tends to steal the spotlight – and rightfully so – there’s a lot more that goes on at these festivals.

Setting the atmosphere for the day will be DJ Manis, who will be bumping Greek music throughout the event.

“He’ll play all day, and anyone who wants to get up and dance will dance,” said Margaret Gegas, who has been heading up baking operations for Holy Trinity.

There will also be jewelry for sale under its own tent, and a raffle will also be part of the festivities.

About that food, though – there will be quite a bit of it. Kebabs of lamb and chicken will be served, as will homemade Greek meatballs, moussaka (an eggplant dish), pastitsio (a Greek macaroni dish), gyros, spanakopita (spinach pie), tiropita (a cheese-egg pastry), baklava, kataifi (a Greek sponge cake), kourabiedes (a type of Greek sugar cookie) and more. If you had trouble pronouncing any of those, you are not alone. Fortunately, you don’t have to be able to pronounce any of this stuff in order to eat it.

There really will be quite a range of food options, and the whole festival will have a fun, welcoming and family-friendly atmosphere to it. Everyone who goes always has a great time, Gegas said, recalling how much fun she’s had at these festivals over the years.

The festival will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the church, 68 N. State St. Admission is free – just bring some money to pay for any food or other items you might want to buy. New this year, you can now pay with Visa and Master Card as well as cash. There is no sign-up or registration required – just show up at any time during the festival and stay for as long as you’d like.

All proceeds go to the church and the charities it works with. The church has been helping with hurricane relief efforts of late, Gegas said, so that’s definitely a worthy cause.

For more information, call 225-2961 or go to holytrinitynh.org.