Festival celebrates Greek culture

Hundreds of people flocked to St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Monessen to enjoy the food and entertainment.

St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church’s Savor the Flavors of Greece festival featured an assortment of Greek cuisine and entertainment.

Friday’s annual food festival was an all-day affair that included performances by Greek music band The Filarakia and the St. Spyridon alumni dancers.

Ronalyn and George Apodiakos, who serve as the co-chairs of Savor the Flavors of Greece, were pleased with the event’s turnout. Hundreds of people lined up for food and enjoyed the music and dancing.

Sharing Greek cuisine with people who don’t usually have it is one of Ronalyn’s favorite part of the festival.

The festival’s menu consisted of gyros, lamb shank, pork souvlaki, baklava, finikia, karidopita and more Greek dishes.

While George praised all the festival’s food, he also highlighted the entertainment.

“I love our Greek dancers,” he said. “The Filarakia are great entertainers.”

The alumni dancers performed a series of traditional Greek dances, including the Tsamiko, Zobra and Pyrrhichios.

Melissa DeMarco, who has served as the instructor of the alumni dancers for roughly 10 years, was proud of the group’s performance Friday.

“I think it went really well this year,” DeMarco said. “Everyone put in a lot of hard work. Everyone works and goes to school and does all that, so we pulled it together. We practiced on Sundays and a couple nights during this week.”

DeMarco’s young son Joe also got in on the dancing fun.

“This is the first year he decided he wanted to join the dance group,” she said. “So it’s been nice to include him in that.”

DeMarco has been a member of St. Spyridon since she was 5, so she’s been a witness to the evolution of the church’s Greek food festival, which has