26th Annual Greek Fest, June 9-12, 2011

I'm a bit late in posting this, since I was away for nearly a week in Atlanta, Georgia, but a couple of weeks ago one of Atlantic Canada's largest annual festivals geared up for its 26th year.

The Halifax Greek Festival was inspired by tales of similar events held in the US, and plans were laid over a quarter century ago for the first Greek Summer Festival in 1986. The organizing committee grossly underestimated how popular that first festival would be, and as the line ups grew, the food quickly ran out.

The festival soon grew so large that it had to be moved outside to a large tent in the parking lot. And though it has evolved, the festival still holds true to its roots even today, as an opportunity to share with Haligonians the cultural and historical roots of the Nova Scotia Greek community, as well as the culinary specialities that make Greek food lovers and EP Daves everywhere say "opa!"

Long time readers may feel like they are experiencing a case of deja vu, but there's a good reason for that. Last year's Greek Fest was the first ever EP Dave's Terra Nova post. That's right, EPTN is officially a full year old (insert applause here). Luckily for me the festival is roughly the same as it was last year (read: awesome), so I can more or less just recycle most of what I wrote the last time... but I won't.

When I was going to all of the festivals last year, I can remember trying to experience a little bit of everything offered at each festival so that I could present my report afterwards. This year around, with most of the festivals being familiar to me and my readers, I will concentrate more fully on having a full and great personal experience to share, that will compliment and supplement the posts I made last year.

To start this year's festival season off right, I decided to go all out on the food. Last year I used to spread my budget too thin, and this would end up leaving me with an unsatisfying experience. This time I went to the opposite extreme and ate way too much. I can now say with certainty that despite my love of Greek food, there is a limit to how much one person can eat in one day. One man does not need to eat lemon roasted potatoes, moussaka, pastichio. spanakopita, tiropita, dolmades, a Greek salad, and then have a donair. That said, everyone should want to find out for him-/herself.

(Catering - Greek Fest style. These hard working volunteers cooked through the night to make sure there was enough food for everyone.)

(It's tough to see from this picture, but by "everyone" I do mean just about everyone in Halifax. This particular lineup snaked all the way to the back of the hall, and then curled around to the entrance.)

(Some more beautiful volunteers cooking up some pork souvlaki kebabs.)

(If you couldn't make it the one minute walk from the hall to the kebab/donair pit, there was a roasting lamb station along the way to tide you over. Old man getting smoked out not included in the price though.)

Since this year my motto seems to be "in for a penny, in for a pound," I checked out the souvenir tents too. This volunteer put on a master course in salesmanship, and I ended up walking away not-unhappy with my new komboloi, or "worry beads."

Draped over the hand, between the first and middle fingers, the user can flip the hanging beads over the top finger and produce a satisfying clanking sound when the flipped beads strike the hanging beads on the other side. Historically komboloi were quite a popular form of stress relief, and are still often used by smokers looking to quit. I must say, once I learned to flip the beads and reset my fingers smoothly, the repetitive motion and noise I was able to produce became quite addicting.

Of course the ever popular ethnic dancers were back again, and this time I came early enough to see the young children dancing too.

(Everyone say, "opa!")

This year I decided to absorb even more of the experience than last year, and so I ventured in to the St. George's Greek Orthodox Church. I was not quite prepared for what I saw though, and the following sight blew me away.

(This picture doesn't do it justice, but the the inside of the St. Goerge's Greek Orthodox Church is covered in paintings from floor to ceiling, and all around, and on top of that - not the ceiling, I meant additionally - there are the myriad traditional ornaments located around the church that probably have some traditional significance of which I am not aware.)

I spent about forty minutes on the upper balcony having a Biblical debate/discussion with one of the priests, as well as learning about the main differences between the Greek Orthodox Church and the other "90 000 heresies" (i.e., the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, and their off-shoots.)

(This photo is for EP Dan. The "hit the goalie" game was back, and the net too - to catch the ball if you miss.)

Italian Week!: September 10-12, 2010

We've had an ethnic festival for the Greeks and the Lebanese, so now I guess it's about time to have one for the Italians too. Like both the Greek Fest and Lebanese Festival, Italian Week (technically just a weekend) is a fundraiser. However, unlike both of the Fests, this fundraiser is for the new Italian Cultural Centre rather than a nearby Orthodox Church. Either because of this, or simply by chance, a few differences existed between Italian Week and the Greek and Lebanese festivals.

(See? I'm standing in front of a map of Italia at Italian Week. That makes me cultured.)

While Italian Week featured the obligatory fast-food quality ethnic cuisine that all cultural festivals in Halifax seem to have, thankfully the organizers decided to leave out the "talent show" (think: twelve year old girls "singing"/hurting my ears) and children's games. This made for a much quieter environment and freed up time and room for more adult-oriented activities like classic Frederico Fellini film showings, wine tasting lessons, and an Italian language class.

After leaving the "festival" (I'm not really sure yet as to what I should classify it) I noticed that a "band" of sorts had decided to protest in front of the centre. Actually, I'm also not sure if they were protesting, but you can hardly call what they were doing "playing". Furthermore, why else would they be standing right in front of the entrance, annoying everyone/blocking the way, unless they had something personal against Italy?

Surprisingly, the head organizer decided not to try to shoo them away, but instead was begging them to come inside the gate and play. After some disorganized discussion amongst the group, that was in keeping with its disorganized playing and appearance, the band members relented and started torturing their instruments inside the gate instead. It was at this point that I took my leave.

Lebanese Festival: July 8-11, 2010

This year marks the ninth time the Lebanese Festival has taken place in Halifax. Like Greek Fest in June, the Halifax Lebanese Festival is a fund raiser for a local Orthodox Church (San Antonio's Antiochian in this case), and follows much the same format of ethnic dancing, ethnic food, and games for the children that makes Greek Fest so popular.

(You can't have a Mediterranean-themed Festival in Halifax without being able to kick a soccer ball at a teenager. I think it might be in the requirements to get a festival permit from the city.)

(A dunk tank! Greek Fest should have thought of that.)

While the Lebanese Festival didn't have a visit from Michael Ignatieff, it was able to amass an impressive field of local, provincial, and national politicians to speak at its opening ceremony on July 9th. It also had an amazing menu of food to taste like the delicious Tabouli, Kafta, and Baklava, and even Zaatar, prepared traditionally on the Saj (a convex, domed, cooking device).

If you could last through the painful "Halifax's Got Talent" talent show, which was essentially pre-teen girls dancing and singing horribly while their friends shrieked in high-pitched shrill voices, you were rewarded with some excellent Lebanese Dancing. I more or less show up to these Festivals specifically for the food and dancing.

25th Annual Greek Fest: June 10-13, 2010

Opa! It's the weekend of June 10-14, 2010, and the festival season has officially begun in Halifax now that Greek Fest is here. Celebrating Greek culture, dance, food and drink, and music, Greek Fest offers a chance for people to be "Greek for a day", as well acting as a fund-raiser for the local Greek churches.

(Being Greek for a day is what this weekend was all about. Although, with the recent economic crisis in that country, I think a day is all anyone could handle right now.)

($2 gave you the chance to hammer a soccer ball as hard as you could three times at a young punk teenager. Isn't Greek Fest great?)

The first Greek Fest was held back in 1986, and with an average of 30 000 people attending each year, the organizers decided that three days just wasn't enough Opa! Subsequently, this year's 25th Anniversary Edition offers an extra day of festivities, and it is expected that the number of visitors will increase to 40 000. With 500 volunteers signed up this year, it is one of the largest festivals in Atlantic Canada.

(Everyone was at Greek Fest this year, even the rare and elusive Pink Tiger, seen here eating its favourite treat, ice cream.)

The main attraction at Greek Fest is obviously the amazing food, served up by the authentic Greek Mammas. To add to the experience though, performances by the Ottawa band, Poseidon, as well as Halifax's best Greek dancers (see videos below) could be seen at various times throughout the festival.

(Is that Doug Edey? Sorry, Grande Prairie joke.)

This year, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Michael Ignatieff decided he needed to hit the "barbecue circuit" early, and I was able to catch a few pictures of him as his aides made him rush through his meal, and then kiss as many babies as possible, before whisking him off to his next appointment.

(The poor guy couldn't even eat in peace without the papparazzos sticking their camera in his face.)

(This may have wrecked Mr. Ignatieff's knees, but at least the kid's parents were able to put their son and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in an uncomfortable position for no good reason.)