by Sofia Willams
The smells of Gyro, Souvlaki, and Paidakia greeted me with a delicious waft as I approached St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church on a foggy Saturday afternoon for its annual South Bay Greek Festival.
The event, which took place Friday to Sunday in Redondo Beach, featured Greek music, traditional Greek foods, religious lectures, and tours of St. Katherine church. Live music was provided by local performers such as the Olympians and DJ Peter Loukatos.
In addition to food items, booths sold books, icons and raffle tickets. Every two hours, Demetrios Wilson led a tour of the church, and each hour a new lecture began on a different religious topic. At 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, youth members of the church performed Greek folk dances in a spacious courtyard area outlined by tables.
Dr. James Dimitriou, the President of the American Hellenic Council and a Board Member of the Greek Heritage Society of Southern California, is an active member of the South Bay’s Greek community. According to Dimitriou, the South Bay Greek Festival was the first of its kind in the greater Los Angeles area when it began in 1963.
“The idea was that we have a culture we want to share with everyone,” said Dimitriou. “We have Greek filotimo, or a welcoming of guests, and we wanted to share that concept that we have embraced here. Filotimo was the concept that the whole festival was based on. After we began doing that, all the churches in the LA area started to have festivals for the community.”
All of the foods for sale at the festival are prepared in St. Katherine’s commercial kitchen by a staff of volunteers. According to volunteer Peter Lagios, the festival’s staff begins preparations months in advance, working to provide large amounts of food and drink to the festival’s patrons.
Dimitriou says that the first step in planning the festival is deciding on a date that does not conflict with other Greek festivals in the area. Secondly, Dimitriou added, the cuisine must be decided on. While the festival will “always have Gyros, Souvlaki (kebabs), and Loukoumades (hot donuts),” Dimitriou says, “everything else is built around those staples.”
According to Lagios, the festival is an important way for people to meet each other, socialize and connect with an ancient culture that has remained relatively unchanged in the face of modern trends.
“[Sharing culture] has been part of Greece since antiquity; cultivating the understanding that prevents hostility and [allows people to] work together has been part of Greek culture from the very beginning. Because of that, it’s continued for 3000 years. From all of the 7,000 Greek islands to the top of the Acropolis, you’re going to feel that wherever you go,” said Dimitriou.
A teacher of Model United Nations at Peninsula High School, Dimitrou believes strongly in the importance of preserving and sharing Greek culture, and imparts that belief to his students. Dimitriou has taken more than 20 trips to Greece with over 5,000 students, and sees many of them attending the South Bay Greek Festival year after year.
“[Attending the festival] doesn’t mean that you’re Greek, it just means that you like to share the hospitality, that Filotimo idea,” said Dimitriou. “I think that’s the most important thing that we have, and I think that’s what people do remember.” ER
