Annual Charleston Greek Festival brings food, culture and faith to the Lowcountry

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — For more than five decades, the annual Charleston Greek Festival has brought a community celebration of Greek culture to the Lowcountry, sharing food, dancing and faith with all at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity.

More than 35,000 people poured through the gates of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, a tradition 55 years in the making.

“We have a really vibrant, big Greek community. Our family has been here for generations, and we’re, you know, part of founding this church, and so it’s really something where we’re part of Charleston, and we want to share that with the community and have everyone come out and celebrate with us,” Rossi Anastopoulo, a volunteer, said.

Dozens of traditional Greek dishes filled the festival grounds, from chicken and gyros to Greek frappes.

“We are baptizing these chickens as Greeks right now. They have Greek seasoning all over them, cook slowly, absolutely delicious,” Dinos Liollio, a member of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, said.

And the food is all made from family recipes passed down through generations.

“The recipes we use for cooking for the festival. Our ancestors’ recipes that we have in our parish cookbook, one of the first Greek cookbooks in the country, because after all, this is Charleston,” Asimoula Alissandratos, a local Greek resident, said.

Beyond the food, traditional music and dancing kept the celebration alive all weekend long, bringing friends and families together.

“We bring the culture to the people of the community. So, we just want to share our faith, our culture, our food, our wine, the Greek beer, everything. We just love it so much, and people love the food and the fun. So, we love to bring people in, show them Greek hospitality, and just enjoy the day,” Stephanie Meletis, volunteer coordinator, said.

And organizers say the heart of this festival has always been centered on faith.

“It’s to carry through tradition, to carry through the faith, there’s so much symbolism within the context of how we pray and how we worship on a weekly basis. And that’s so important that we share and translate,” Liollio said.

Vendors also brought Greek culture to life through clothing, jewelry and local businesses.

“I love engaging in this wonderful community, and it’s been very well received because the Greek soup is a very sacred food item to all Greek people,” Michael Houllis, owner of It’s Greek to Me Foods, said.

For all ages, the festival means something to everyone.

“Celebrate Mother’s Day and you get to spend time with all the other mothers and become Greek for a day,” Tripp Andreas, a local resident, said.

And while the festival has wrapped up, this experience of Greek culture doesn’t have to be your last.

“Greek Fest and our Greek community doesn’t just only come out this one weekend. We’re here all year, and we invite anyone who wants to come and be a part of it at any time and just experience that with us,” Anastopoulo said.

For more information about the church, click here.