Traditional Greek dancers entertain the crowd at a previous year’s Greek Fest at Holy Taxiarhai and St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church in Niles. (Journal file photo)
Holy Taxiarhai and St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church will host the Big Greek Food Fest of Niles from Friday, July 17, through Sunday, July 19, on the church grounds at 7373 N. Caldwell Ave. Church officials said the event drew 15,000 people last year.
Festival hours are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. to midnight Saturday, and 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday.
This year’s event marks 75 years for the faith community. The parish spent its early years on Chicago’s Northwest Side and in Humboldt Park before moving to its current home on Caldwell Avenue in 1978. The food festival has been running for nearly 40 years.
Maria Megrmos scoops freshly fried loukoumathes out of the fryer in the pastry tent of the Big Greek Food Fest of Niles at St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church in 2021. (Tom Robb/Journal photo)
The event features five tents of main dishes, appetizers and desserts, alongside a new $35,000 raffle, cooking demonstrations, live music, Greek dance troupes, a retail bazaar and church tours.
While previous festivals featured a gyros tent run by Hub’s of Skokie, this year Grecian Delight Kronos of Elk Grove Village will handle the gyros and flaming saganaki cheese.
The remaining tents will serve mostly homemade dishes prepared on-site, including spanakopita, moussaka, dolmades, grilled chicken, octopus, lamb chops and pastries like freshly fried loukoumades. Codfish will be served exclusively on Friday.
Last year, church volunteers prepared 1,651 pieces of spanakopita and 60 trays of pastitsio, a Greek lasagna made with pasta and meat sauce.
Entertainment will feature a DJ on Friday and the band Grecian Formula on Saturday and Sunday. Three Greek dance troupes will perform: the Chicago Cretan Youth Dance Troupe on Friday, the Paradosi Hellenic Dance Company on Saturday, and the Orpheus Hellenic Folklore Society on Sunday.
At the taverna tent, Larry Konstantellos (left) cooks up lamb chops while Vas Zimbrokos (right) places Greek sausage on the grill at the Big Greek Food Fest of Niles at St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church in 2021. (Tom Robb/Journal photo)
Cooking demonstrations are scheduled for 7 p.m. daily, though specific details are still being finalized.
The church of the Holy Taxiarhai was organized by Greek Orthodox immigrants in the late 1940s. According to the church’s website, the parish was officially incorporated as a Greek Orthodox church in 1951, when St. Haralambos was added to the name.
Proceeds from the festival will support the church’s philanthropic and educational initiatives.
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