Organizers of the Oakmont Greek Food Festival always have three goals in mind when preparing for the annual three-day event: to share faith and culture, to build relationships while celebrating heritage, and to raise funds for the church.
It’s what drives the folks at Dormition of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church on Washington Avenue.
“We’re looking forward to another successful year,” event co-chair Andy Gavrilos said Wednesday. “It’s our single fundraiser for our church. As always, we appreciate the communities that support us.”
The festival, set for June 26 to 28, draws thousands of people to the borough.
The 52nd installment is packed with a lot of fan favorites in the food and entertainment department.
The layout is the same as last year’s.
Live music will be provided by The Filarakia. The band has performed at the festival for multiple years, playing traditional Greek songs and an assortment of tunes from different islands.
Grecian Odyssey Dancers from East Pittsburgh perform twice a night, led in by their younger counterparts. They include the Rising Grecian Stars, who are 2 to 5 years old; the Junior Grecian Stars, who are elementary students; and the Grecian Stars, who are middle and high school students.
Signature dinners such as chicken Alexis, lamb shanks, pork souvlaki, side dishes and the church’s legendary gyros will be available in the Grand Hall.
Pork souvlaki, gyros and fries also will be available near the main tent.
Honey balls, baklava and other desserts will be served at the building across from the Grand Hall while supplies last.
“We pretty much stayed with the same menu here the last couple years,” Gavrilos said. “It works for us well. With the limited number of volunteers, we have to be careful that we don’t overextend. From time to time, we thought about adding some things. We have to make sure we can deliver it high quality and in a timely manner.”
About 300 volunteers are scheduled each day, with many working all three days. Generations of parishioner families are involved in the festival. Newcomers are always welcome.
“It’s an opportunity for our parishioners to work together and share our culture through food, dancing and music with the community,” Gavrilos said.
Patrons should expect to see slight price increases for certain foods. An updated menu was not available.
“Our costs have gone up,” Gavrilos said. “A lot of it is due to transportation costs. We’re doing what we can to keep prices reasonable for the amount and the quality of food that we serve.”
Indoor and outdoor seating can accommodate more than 1,200 guests.
Behind the scenes
The festival will be the first test for the parish following a kitchen remodeling project. New ovens were added, and the layout was modified to make things more efficient.
The project began in the fall and was completed recently.
The church replaced its walk-in coolers and freezers with larger ones before last year’s festival.
Oakmont organizers took time out in early May to help promote other Greek food festivals in Western Pennsylvania via social media.
The ones after Oakmont’s festival are in Monessen, Ambridge, East Pittsburgh and the North Hills.
“There’s always some camaraderie and some respectful competition between the churches,” Gavrilos said. “We help each other out where we can.”
Advance orders will be taken starting June 19.
More information will be posted on the church’s website and the event’s Facebook page.