CLIFTON, NJ – The 52nd annual St. George Festival was held with great success in Clifton, NJ. Throughout the three-day event, May 29-31, visitors enjoyed traditional Greek food and sweets, live music and dancing, shopping at the bazaar, and an amusement park for the little ones.
The community’s presiding priest Fr. Peter Souritzidis spoke with The National Herald and expressed his gratitude for the large turnout of visitors from all over New Jersey, thanking the volunteers and sponsors for their services and contributions to the parish.
“Above all,” he added, “we thank the good God for blessing us with the love, unity, and cooperation needed to create such a great and wonderful event.”
“We feel proud to see all members working together harmoniously and lovingly for the good of our church,” Fr. Souritzidis continued. “At the same time, we are given the opportunity to showcase Orthodoxy, civilization, culture, cuisine and Greek hospitality to the wider region.”
“Every day visitors, even non-Christians, are guided through the holy temple and learn about our faith,” he said. “Our church has been around for over a century and we are very happy that it is constantly growing and progressing.”
Great crowds visited the 52nd Annual St. George Greek Festival in Clifton, NJ. Photo: TNH/Michael Kakias
The festival’s director, Eleni Manoliadis, thanked the dozens of volunteers who worked countless hours for this success, the sponsors for their donations, the restaurants for the food, and the guests for their contributions.
“This year we have over 150 volunteers working in shifts, each of whom is not only a member of the parish, expatriates from various parts of New Jersey have come to help, and even people who are not Greek or even Christian neighbors volunteer and this really moves us,” she said. “The preparations begin several months in advance with each group taking on a specific area, food, entertainment, etc.”
“Every day, the GOYA dance group entertains visitors with a very beautiful program from various parts of Greece, while on Saturday we had live music from the band Prometheus Greek Entertainment,” Manoliadis noted.
Parish Council President John Pilavas stated that the festival is a key source of income to cover the operating expenses of the church, all programs, Greek School, Sunday School, GOYA, JOY, while a portion of the income will be given for maintenance and renovation projects of the church.
Philoptochos President Evangelia Paropoulou said that the members of the association help at the festival by making all kinds of sweets, baklava, kourambiedes, cookies, and also serving.
