Greekfest, an annual celebration of Greek culture, takes place over Labor Day weekend each year. One of the largest attractions to “St. Louis’s best local festival” is the food. Gyros, spankopita, shish-kebobs and baklava,-the list of authentic foods is extensive and tasty.

For the traditional lamb Gyro many customers waited in line for over an hour and the other lines, though not quite as time-consuming, are also pretty extensive.

Different genres of Greek music are heard from speakers all around the eating areas, while a live band plays outside.

Complementing the music are the St. Nicholas Greek Dancers who demonstrate traditional methods of Greek dance and create excitement in the crowd as well as showing another aspect of their culture.

At the geographical and metaphorical heart of it all is the Church.

The festival staff are all part of the St. Nicholas religious community and even make most of the food that they serve. One of the more unique features of the festival is that they give Church tours which include a brief overview of the Greek Orthodox religion. There was more of a factual feel to the overview than a push to join. There was time for questions at the end of the overview as well as information on how to sign up for a class to learn more.
The garnish to this chunk of culture was the gift shop where you could bring some of the festival back with you in the form of Greek goods imported directly from Athens. All in all the experience was an eye-opener to the Greek culture and their accepting community.