RYE, NY – On Saturday, December 6, the Greek Orthodox Church of Our Savior Hellenic School in Westchester County, is set to host their third annual Greek Christmas Market.
Taking place from 9 AM to 2 PM, at 2195 Westchester Avenue East Rye, NY, the Greek Christmas Market, which serves as one of the Church’s biggest fundraisers for the year, will feature plenty of festive fun for the whole family.
There will be craft activities for children, vendors to shop from for unique, handmade gifts ahead of Christmas, as well as opportunities for families to take Christmas photos.
Some of the items you can expect to find include quality secondhand items, Christmas decor, handmade gifts, such as jewelry, candles and accessories, houseware, and unique pieces of art.
There will also be an array of authentic Greek food and sweet treats available for purchasing.
Organized by the Church of Our Savior Hellenic School’s PTA board, the PTA Vice President, Arete Koutras, said the event originally started back in 2023, as a means of raising funds for the school.
“Our vendors who come along, don’t pay anything to have a table and set themselves up, we just ask for them to donate 10% of their sales proceeds to the Hellenic School,” Koutras told TNH.
“Then, that money goes to fund and pay for teachers’ salaries, books for our library, and extracurricular activities that we put on and do for the kids – it really goes a long way to helping our school. We also put on various other events throughout the year, like our Fall Harvest event, and we use the fundraiser money to help pay for other events for the kids.”
Koutras described the event as a way students, their families, and the community can come together, connect, and make new friendships.
The Greek Christmas Market showcases Greek-American artists, as well as jewelry designers, handbag designers, and artisans who make things like Greek-inspired gifts, homewares, scares, blankets, mugs, Christmas ornaments and more.
As well as curating a family-friendly, gift shopping and festive Christmas experience, there will also be an array of Greek food for purchasing too.
The vendors include Kat’s Handmade Jewels, Kokorisko Creations Boutique, Shop Filakia, Ariadne Kritonos, Olympia Crafts, Made by Faye D, Mediterranean Collection, Koulianos Designs, Stacy’s Creations, Argyro Sarantis, DZ International, and Hellas Homemade.
Koutras revealed how she felt about hosting the Greek Christmas Market for a third year.
“I’m really looking forward to doing a lot of my Christmas shopping for family, friends and coworkers,” she said.
‘In the past, I’ve bought some beautiful things, and some unique Greek gifts, like scarves, table runners and jewelry boxes, as well as very unique, handcrafted Christmas ornaments that I bought for gifts and for my own home.”
One of the vendors of the event, Patricia Kalpos, who runs her own business, Filakia, expressed how she felt to participate in this year’s event.
“I’m excited. It’s really cool to see it grow, especially from the first year to the second year,” Kalpos told TNH.
“A percentage of all of our sales go to the Hellenic School program, so it feels really good to be able to give back as well, and to connect with a bunch of like-minded, Greek-American artisans and small business owners that are coming together for this event.”
Kalpos explained how she officially started her online handmade Greek business back in 2020, where she is known for selling a wide variety of products she designs and makes herself.
“I have a lot of nautical and Greek-inspired lifestyle products, which include things like clothing and apparel, small accessories and things for the home,” she said.
“I sell things like candles, tote bags, passport covers – pretty much you name it, it’s there and I sell it.”
When asked what items she will be bringing with her, Kalpos said: “I am going to bring a lot of small accessories and I am also going to bring samples of the clothing that I sell online, so at least people can see the quality of the materials and the colors, and then have an idea of what I do sell online as well.”
She is currently working on a whole Christmas collection and will have some samples of handmade ornaments available to purchase as well. Those who aren’t able to make the event, are encouraged to visit her site www.shopfilakia.com, to check out her sales ahead of Christmas.
