Belmont Greek Festival Set for Labor Day Weekend, Sept. 2-3, 2023
After Festival, Take N Bake Orders Open Sept. 6, 2023
Featuring mouth-watering moussaka, spectacular spanakopita, and blissful baklava, the 51st Belmont Greek Festival arrives in the mid-Peninsula on Labor Day Weekend, Sat., Sept. 2 – Sun., Sept. 3, at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, 900 Alameda de las Pulgas (corner of Ralston Avenue), in Belmont. Festival hours are Noon-10 pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
Thousands of guests are expected to visit the festival to enjoy wonderful Greek meals and pastries, lively music and dancing, a mythology play, cooking demonstrations, a taverna with Greek beverages, a wine-tasting and cocktail booth, church tours, a bookstore, and other activities.
After the festival, guests will be able to enjoy more of their favorite Belmont Greek Festival dishes by ordering through the popular Take N Bake program, highlighted by frozen entrees ready to cook at home, as well as freshly-baked pastries. Online orders will open on Wed., Sept. 6, on this website, and food pick-ups will start on Sept. 23.
“The food is fantastic,” said Festival Chair Philip Louridas. “I’m thankful for all of our volunteers who have prepared these dishes. The recipes have been handed down over many generations, and it’s so great to see the traditions continue forward.”
“We’re excited to share our Greek culture with the community,” Louridas said, “and we welcome everyone to join us at the festival for some amazing food and entertainment.”
The indoor dining hall returns this year with a full array of culinary choices, along with the outdoor food booths. The marvelous meals will include moussaka (layers of seasoned meat and eggplant topped with creamy béchamel sauce), pastitsio (Greek lasagna), youvetsi (lamb shanks and orzo), spanakopita (spinach and cheese stuffed inside filo pastry), tiropita (cheese stuffed inside filo pastry), gyros (pita sandwich with seasoned meat, tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki sauce), calamari (squid), souvlakia (Greek shish kebab), and plenty of Greek lamb, to name just a few.
For the sweet tooth, there will be traditional pastries such as baklava (layers of nuts and filo pastry soaked in honey), loukoumades (tender doughnut holes covered with honey), kourambiedes (butter cookies covered with powdered sugar), galaktoboureko (custard stuffed between filo pastry), koulourakia (twisty, buttery cookies), and more.
Take N Bake will feature several frozen entrees including moussaka, pastitsio, youvetsi, spanakopita, tiropita, and new this year, the delicious homemade meat sauce that is used in the pastitsio. There will also be an assortment of freshly-baked pastries.
One of the newer festival highlights is the platia, an outdoor village square, “resembling a delightful street in Greece lined with bistro tables and chairs, alongside our popular bookstore,” Louridas said. The platia will feature frappés (iced coffee) and baklava sundaes.
The kafenion coffee house will offer a quiet, indoor space to relax with Greek or American coffee and yummy pastries.
Guests 21 and over will want to head to the taverna to try distinctive Greek wines, beer, and liquor, such as the anise-flavored Ouzo aperitif and Metaxa brandy. A separate wine booth will offer imported wines, flights for tasting, and colorful Greek cocktails.
Festival visitors will find continuous entertainment on two stages. At the main stage, they can dance to exciting music by a popular Greek band and watch dance groups perform their elaborate, dynamic steps.
At the outdoor amphitheater, reminiscent of the theaters of ancient Greece, children and adults alike will delight in a Greek mythology play, cooking demonstrations, and performances by the Aurora Mandolin Orchestra, Festival Chorus and Ensemble, and award-winning children’s entertainer Andy Z.
Throughout the weekend, there will be tours of the beautiful Byzantine-style church, including the stunning mosaic iconography. Other festival highlights will include a bookstore with Orthodox Christian publications, icons, and gifts, plus vendor boutiques featuring art, clothing, and jewelry.
The proceeds of the festival support the many ministries of Holy Cross Church, as well as monetary donations made to local charities. Past recipients of festival donations include the Second Harvest Food Bank of San Mateo County, Samaritan House in San Mateo, Bay Area Cancer Connections in Palo Alto, Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, and My New Red Shoes in Redwood City.
General admission is $5. For seniors and youth (ages 13-17), admission is $3. Children 12 and under are free with an adult. Local parking and free shuttle service are available.
The Belmont Greek Festival accepts only credit and debit cards. Cash can be exchanged for a cash card at the festival.
Pets are not permitted except for service animals.
For more information, explore this website further, or email us at [email protected], or call (650) 591-4447, or visit us on Facebook. Opa!
Thousands of guests are expected to visit the festival to enjoy wonderful Greek meals and pastries, lively music and dancing, a mythology play, cooking demonstrations, a taverna with Greek beverages, a wine-tasting and cocktail booth, church tours, a bookstore, and other activities.
After the festival, guests will be able to enjoy more of their favorite Belmont Greek Festival dishes by ordering through the popular Take N Bake program, highlighted by frozen entrees ready to cook at home, as well as freshly-baked pastries. Online orders will open on Wed., Sept. 6, on this website, and food pick-ups will start on Sept. 23.
“The food is fantastic,” said Festival Chair Philip Louridas. “I’m thankful for all of our volunteers who have prepared these dishes. The recipes have been handed down over many generations, and it’s so great to see the traditions continue forward.”
“We’re excited to share our Greek culture with the community,” Louridas said, “and we welcome everyone to join us at the festival for some amazing food and entertainment.”
The indoor dining hall returns this year with a full array of culinary choices, along with the outdoor food booths. The marvelous meals will include moussaka (layers of seasoned meat and eggplant topped with creamy béchamel sauce), pastitsio (Greek lasagna), youvetsi (lamb shanks and orzo), spanakopita (spinach and cheese stuffed inside filo pastry), tiropita (cheese stuffed inside filo pastry), gyros (pita sandwich with seasoned meat, tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki sauce), calamari (squid), souvlakia (Greek shish kebab), and plenty of Greek lamb, to name just a few.
For the sweet tooth, there will be traditional pastries such as baklava (layers of nuts and filo pastry soaked in honey), loukoumades (tender doughnut holes covered with honey), kourambiedes (butter cookies covered with powdered sugar), galaktoboureko (custard stuffed between filo pastry), koulourakia (twisty, buttery cookies), and more.
Take N Bake will feature several frozen entrees including moussaka, pastitsio, youvetsi, spanakopita, tiropita, and new this year, the delicious homemade meat sauce that is used in the pastitsio. There will also be an assortment of freshly-baked pastries.
One of the newer festival highlights is the platia, an outdoor village square, “resembling a delightful street in Greece lined with bistro tables and chairs, alongside our popular bookstore,” Louridas said. The platia will feature frappés (iced coffee) and baklava sundaes.
The kafenion coffee house will offer a quiet, indoor space to relax with Greek or American coffee and yummy pastries.
Guests 21 and over will want to head to the taverna to try distinctive Greek wines, beer, and liquor, such as the anise-flavored Ouzo aperitif and Metaxa brandy. A separate wine booth will offer imported wines, flights for tasting, and colorful Greek cocktails.
Festival visitors will find continuous entertainment on two stages. At the main stage, they can dance to exciting music by a popular Greek band and watch dance groups perform their elaborate, dynamic steps.
At the outdoor amphitheater, reminiscent of the theaters of ancient Greece, children and adults alike will delight in a Greek mythology play, cooking demonstrations, and performances by the Aurora Mandolin Orchestra, Festival Chorus and Ensemble, and award-winning children’s entertainer Andy Z.
Throughout the weekend, there will be tours of the beautiful Byzantine-style church, including the stunning mosaic iconography. Other festival highlights will include a bookstore with Orthodox Christian publications, icons, and gifts, plus vendor boutiques featuring art, clothing, and jewelry.
The proceeds of the festival support the many ministries of Holy Cross Church, as well as monetary donations made to local charities. Past recipients of festival donations include the Second Harvest Food Bank of San Mateo County, Samaritan House in San Mateo, Bay Area Cancer Connections in Palo Alto, Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, and My New Red Shoes in Redwood City.
General admission is $5. For seniors and youth (ages 13-17), admission is $3. Children 12 and under are free with an adult. Local parking and free shuttle service are available.
The Belmont Greek Festival accepts only credit and debit cards. Cash can be exchanged for a cash card at the festival.
Pets are not permitted except for service animals.
For more information, explore this website further, or email us at [email protected], or call (650) 591-4447, or visit us on Facebook. Opa!