Annual Greek Festival features dancers and food

By Phil Fauver Guest Writer

The Greek Community of Price and surrounding area held their annual Greek Festival at the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 61 South 200 East in Price on July, 11-12. The main features of the festival are the best Greek dinners, homemade pastries, Greek music and dances.
Most Greek Festivals are organized by the Greek Orthodox Church which is the cultural center of the Greek Community. In cities where there is a large Greek population a Greek Festival is usually held once a year, consisting of Greek food and dancers dressed in traditional Greek clothing.
Vendors set up in booths near the dance floor, where they sell trinkets like golden bracelets and other Greek souvenirs.
The Greek dancers put on several shows during the festival, illustrating different Greek cultural dances from the various parts of Greece. Several of the dance troupes came from Salt Lake City and other Greek Communities in the United States to entertain the festival attendees. The dancers were colorfully dressed in costumes trimmed in gold, white, red, and black.
The minister of this Greek Orthodox Church offered tours of the church building, where a visitor could learn the history of the Greeks leaving Greece, coming to Utah and what they did in the coal mines in addition to the history of businesses started and owned by Greeks in Utah. The icons on display and the furnishings within the cathedral are worthwhile to see.
At the festival the assortment of Greek foods available for enjoyment was outstanding. Some of the names of food may be familiar, such as the gyro which is slices of meat served in a fried piece of pita bread, rolled up with salads and sauces. Sometimes this sandwich is called souvlaki.
The Greek salad mixed in a pan with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, black olives, olive oil, vinegar and topped off with feta cheese is a delight to the taste buds. There may have even been some grape leaves included.
The pieces of pork coated with a spicy combination of seasoning on a wooden skewer was very tasty. Stuffed grape leaves and pastries made with grape leaves cooked inside were worth trying.
Olive oil is used in many of the foods presented to the public at the Greek Festival.
Greek baklava is a desert of Turkish origin, a pastry made of many layers of paper-thin dough filled with ground nuts, baked and then drenched in honey. Turkey once ruled Greece for many years until the Greek war of independence. If you missed the Greek Festival this year, you missed an exciting event.