Get Us to the Greek (Festival) This Weekend

I opa, you opa, they opa, we all opa! The Denver area is full of festive activities, especially as summer kicks off.

The Outside Festival just finished its successful second year, and coming up on Saturday is a new indie street festival in Englewood, Indiewood, showcasing Denver's best indie bands. But those newbies are just the beginning of the action this weekend. Starting Friday, everybody can get their Greek at one of the city's oldest and largest cultural events. Since 1964, the Denver Greek Festival at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church has been a celebration of all things Hellenic, paying homage to the civilization that gave us precious gifts such as democracy, philosophy and flaming platters of cheese.

"We really are very proud of our faith, we love being in our culture and we love being able to share that with Colorado," says Eva Vasilas Fry, the festival's marketing director. "It's amazing to be able to hand down our culture and traditions to the new generations. I feel like if we don't pass on those traditions, they will die."

Vasilas Fry, who was born in Denver and baptized at Assumption, has watched the festival grow through the decades. "When I was a kid, I was at the church popping squid eyeballs [while preparing kalamari] and putting souvlaki on a stick, because literally everything was handmade," she recounts. "All of the baked goods are still 100 percent homemade, and I would say 80 percent of the foods still are. But there are definitely a few items that they're purchasing now because [volunteers] just don't have the time."
Those homemade desserts include baklava, of course, but also loukoumades, fried dough puffs soaked in honey that are Greece's answer to doughnut holes (or sopapillas). Then there's pagotini — ice cream wrapped in crispy phyllo and drizzled with baklava syrup, and melomakarona, delicate cookies made from flour, olive oil, sugar and orange juice, drenched in honey and topped with walnuts.

On the non-sweet front, festival-going foodies will find staples like gyros and spanakopita, along with succulent lamb chops and pastitsio, a lasagna-like layered concoction of noodles, bechamel, seasoned ground beef and just a hint of cinnamon. Wash down your feast with an all-Greek assortment of beer, wine and cocktails, including the Metaxa Mediterranean Paloma, which is made with the herbaceous Greek spirit.
Delicious food is only part of the fun. The entertainment schedule also includes musical and dance performances by kids and adults, dance lessons, olive oil tastings and cooking demonstrations. In the vendors' boutique, you'll find authentic arts and crafts, not mass-merchandised junk. Tours (including choral performances) of the Assumption of the Theotokos Cathedral of Denver happen every hour, and the dazzlingly ornate gold-domed Byzantine structure must be seen to be appreciated.

Founded by the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society (Philoptochos means "friend of the poor"), the Denver Greek Festival donates to community organizations including the Gathering Place, Denver Health and Bonfils Blood Center. This year, the festival will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Samaritan House.

Opa!

The Denver Greek Festival runs from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, June 8, at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 4610 East Alameda Avenue; daily general admission is $5, seniors $3, and children twelve and under are free. Paid parking is available for $5, but there's also free shuttle service from the PetSmart parking lot adjacent to the church. For more information, visit thegreekfestival.com.