Three things we love about fall in Birmingham: College football, cooler temperatures and the annual Birmingham Greek Festival.
One of Birmingham’s biggest and oldest food and cultural events, the festival starts today and continues through Saturday at Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 307 19th Street South.
Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. all three days.
This is the 51st year for the Birmingham Greek Festival, which celebrates the contributions the Greek community has made to the Magic City – especially to the Birmingham food scene.
Teddy Hontzas, who co-owns Birmingham’s iconic Niki’s West restaurant with his brother, Pete, is this year’s festival chairman.
If you’re a regular at the festival, you probably know the drill by now.
But if you’re a newbie, or just need a refresher, here’s everything you need to know about the Birmingham Greek Festival before you go.
READ MORE: Food fests we love in Birmingham
The menu at the Birmingham Greek Festival includes Greek chicken and souvlaki plates, as well as a variety of pastries.(Photo courtesy of Birmingham Greek Festival; used with permission)
On the menu
All appetizers, entrees, and desserts served at the festival are prepared from scratch by church parishioners, including some prominent Greek chefs and restaurateurs.
Appetizers include feta and feta-and-spinach pitas (four for $7) and stuffed grape leaves (four for $7).
Entrees include souvlaki ($21), Greek chicken ($19), pastitsio ($19), a vegetable plate ($17), a gyro sandwich ($11), a Greek salad ($13), a gyro and salad ($14), and a deluxe plate with chicken and pastitsio ($25).
Pastries include baklava (two for $7), honey-and-nut cookies (two for $7), Greek wedding cookies (two for $7), almond crescents (two for $7), butter cookies ($12 for a dozen), honey-dipped Greek donuts ($6 for a half-dozen, $12 for a dozen), and a boxed assortment of any dozen Greek pastries ($42).
Beverages include Coca-Cola products, as well as Greek beer and wines.
Also, pans of frozen pastitsio, which will feed nine to 12 people, are available to take home for $60.
Guests may order their food to go, but the festival also offers outdoor seating along 19th Street South for those who want to stick around and take in all the sights, sounds and smells.
Online and phone-in orders are not available.
For more details and descriptions of all the dishes, go here.
Teddy Hontzas of Niki’s West restaurant in Birmingham is the chairman of the Birmingham Greek Festival.(Photo courtesy of Birmingham Greek Festival; used with permission)
Drive-thru service
Just like McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A, the festival also offers drive-thru service for those who don’t want to get out of their cars.
Servers will greet customers as they pull into the drive-thru line, take their orders, and deliver their food to their vehicles.
Drive-thru hours are 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. all three nights.
The Greek dances performed by the children at Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral are among the highlights of the festival each year. .(Photo courtesy of Birmingham Greek Festival; used with permission)
Music and dancing
Along with the live music, the traditional Greek dances performed by the children of Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral are almost as much a part of the annual celebration as the food.
The dancers — from 4 to 18 years old – perform on the outdoor main stage along 19th Street South starting at 5 p.m. each night.
For the full music and dance schedule, go here.
Birmingham’s Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral is the fourth oldest Greek Orthodox parish in the Southeast. (Photo courtesy of Birmingham Greek Festival; used with permission)
Cathedral tours
The Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral parish was chartered in 1906, and it is the fourth oldest Greek Orthodox parish in the Southeast.
The cathedral is open for self-guided tours between 10:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. during the three-day festival, and parishioners are available to answer any questions.
Call 205-716-3088 to schedule a tour for large school and church groups.
Also, the Greek Market Place offers Mediterranean and Orthodox Christian souvenirs.
Free parking is available in the parking deck of the former Liberty National building for guests at the Birmingham Greek Festival.(Photo courtesy of Birmingham Greek Festival; used with permission)
Free parking
Free, secured parking is available in the former Liberty National building parking deck on Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard between Third and Fourth Avenues South.
For a map, go here.
In 2023, the Birmingham Greek Festival donated $10,000 to Children’s of Alabama, one of three charities to benefit from last year’s festival.(Photo courtesy of Birmingham Greek Festival; used with permission)
Charities
Since 1972, the Birmingham Greek Festival has donated a portion of the festival proceeds to local and national charities.
In recent years, these charities have included Magic Moments, The Exceptional Foundation, The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama, Firehouse Ministries, Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama, Pathways, Family Connection, The Wellhouse, Jimmie Hale Mission, Safe House, the Alabama Kidney Foundation, MS Society, The Greater Birmingham Ministries, Diakonia Retreat Center, Children’s of Alabama, Folds of Honor, The Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs, First Light Shelter, Youth Towers, Saint Herman of Alaska Orthodox Christian Mission in Tuscaloosa, AHEPA 3 Charities, and Magic City Harvest.
This year’s charities are Firehouse Ministries, First Light Shelter and Urban Ministry.
All of the entrees, appetizers and pastries served at the Birmingham Greek Festival are prepared and served by the parishioners at Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral. (AL.com file photo/Hal Yeager)
Still have questions?
For more information about the 2024 Birmingham Greek Festival, go here.
