Savannah Greek Festival returns for 71st year with dancing, markets and can’t miss cuisine

It’s finally back.

The Savannah Greek Festival returns for its 71st year bringing plenty of food, dancing, and culture with it. 2020's festival was completely canceled due to the pandemic, and 2021 was only a food pick-up, but this year, the festival is fully back in person.

“We're pretty excited about it. A lot of people have been wanting [the festival] back, and of course, we like to do it. So we're happy we're going to be able to do it full-blown like we've done in the past," festival chair Tommy Danos said.

This year’s Savannah Greek Festival is on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Church’s Hellenic Center, 14 West Anderson Street. Aside from the delicious Greek food, there will also be music, church tours, a market, a Greek grocery and traditional dancing. Danos said all parts of the festival are a way to share Greek culture and traditions and introduce people to aspects of them that they may not have known about.

Credit: Adriana Iris Boatwright / For Do Savannah

Credit: Adriana Iris Boatwright / For Do Savannah

One example of that is dancing.

“There’s so many things that the Greeks are responsible for. The dancing in a group is designed to be inclusive of everybody because so many times you know you have wallflowers, people that are embarrassed, or whatever. So rather than a couple dancing it’s a group... And then a lot of times it was used as a way of introducing young people to one another as kind of a courtship ritual.”

Of course, the big draw is the food. The gym of the Hellenic Center will transform into a dining hall filled with all your favorite Greek dishes: Gyro sandwiches, Dolmades, Spanakopita, Baklava, and more.

Credit: Adriana Iris Boatwright / For Do Savannah

Credit: Adriana Iris Boatwright / For Do Savannah

“We’ll have the combo line, which is where we have a sampler platter of a lot of the homemade Greek dishes. We’ll have an à la carte line where you can get exactly what you want. We'll also have a bar with refreshments.” Those refreshments include Greek coffee, imported Greek wine, beer, and an assortment of desserts.

If going in-person to the festival isn't possible, you don't have to miss out. You can place a food order through the Savannah Greek Festival's website and schedule a time to pick it up at the door on Henry Lane.

There will also be vendors selling Greek goods out in the courtyard and the Agora inside. “I think this year, we're going to have three different vendors out in the courtyard, and they'll have their own little set up where they're selling gifts and trinkets.

Credit: Adriana Iris Boatwright / For Do Savannah

Credit: Adriana Iris Boatwright / For Do Savannah

"Now, once you get into the building, [the Agora] is our own gift shop, that'll be selling a lot of different things. In fact, the woman in charge of it actually goes to Greece every summer. So she's bringing back things from Greece that she's found over there.”

There will also be the Bakaliko, the Greek grocery store where you can get the hard-to-find ingredients to make some of those delicious Greek dishes you sampled in the dining hall.

There is no charge to get into the festival Thursday and Friday until 4 p.m. After that and all day Saturday, admission is $5. You can find more information about the festival including a menu and times of activities at SavannahGreekFest.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Greek Festival returns for 71st year with dancing, markets and can’t miss cuisine

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