Throngs of people turned out for the first day of Santa Barbara’s 36th annual Greek Festival at Oak Park on Saturday, and volunteers at the festival are gearing up for an even bigger turnout Sunday.
Greek dancing and music were key to Saturday’s events, and the mouthwatering, if hard to pronounce, Greek delicacies like spanakopita, souvlaki and melomakarona are some of the authentic Greek fare for sale among the festival’s booths.
The bustling festival is put on by St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, and the festivities function as the main fundraiser for the church at 1205 San Antonio Creek Road. All of the money raised this weekend goes toward capital improvement projects at the church’s campus.
Michael Pahos, who worked as the chairman of the festival for 15 years, was on his way up to the stage to sing with his band, The Village Greeks. He said he’s been a member of the church since 1960, and that most of the volunteers at the festival belong to the parish as well.
Looking around at the Oak Park pathways bustling with people, Pahos said this year’s turnout seemed greater than previous years, which he said may be due to people staying closer to home because of the economy.
“Sunday will be even busier,” he said.
Sunday’s lineup includes Greek dance lessons, and a performance by the St. Barbara’s children’s traditional dance group, Zoi. The dancers, age 6 through 11, will be presenting dances from Crete and the Pontian region. A raffle prize of a free trip to Greece will be drawn at 6:30 p.m.
Click here for a full schedule of Sunday’s events at the park, 300 W. Alamar Ave.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com.