Dancers celebrate Greek culture to the tune of traditional music and styles of dance. Photos by Ansley Peterson/Carolina Reporter
Long lines of people stand in the South Carolina heat.
Steaming gyros are passed to customers with a smile.
Groups of performers twirl and stomp in the intertwining circles of a traditional Greek dance.
The Columbia Greek Festival returned for its 38th year this month, continuing to entertain attendees with food, community and fun for the whole family. It started out with humble beginnings, although the festival has grown to be a highly anticipated celebration of culture each year.
Father Rev. Michael A. Platanis said the origin of the festival calls back to the prevalence of local food fairs in the Southeast throughout the late 1970s and ’80s.
“There’s a history of opening the church and sharing our food and our baked products for a long, long time,” Platanis said.
The St. Catherine’s Ladies Philanthropic Society has put on a pastry sale during Western Holy Week for the past 80 years at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, where the festival is held.
As the popularity and awareness of the festival continues to rise, the church also continues to grow in the number of families attending and the size of the property itself.
Niki Stewart, one of the chairpersons of the festival, has dedicated much of her time to make sure it runs smoothly each year. She is involved in advertising, securing vendors many months in advance, as well as baking and preparing much of the food being sold.
“We can have over 125,000 people in four days and four nights, so it’s truly a labor of love,” Stewart said.
Both attendees and vendors alike have been showing up to support the festival for generations.
Katerina Vergos has been a vendor since 2001 with her business Ola Kala Designs and despite living in Florida, makes the trip up for the festival every year to demonstrate her unwavering support.
“I’m loyal, and I’m here, and I’ll be here again next year,” Vergos said.
Platanis said festival organizers never expected the festival to take off and become the thriving event it is today. He said the church’s main focus will always be upholding its faith.
“This is a church, the church of Christ, crucified and resurrected, and the gospel of the salvation through him,” Platanis said. “So … this is ancillary.”
The original business plan was to take the monetary success of the festival and pay the mortgage on the cathedral so that the money made would continue to support the property. A portion of the funds each year also goes to supporting local charities.
“The cathedral is the fruit of the generosity of the people of Columbia and the area,” Platanis said.
With the mortgage of the cathedral almost entirely paid off, the need for such a large-scale production diminishes.
“I’d like to cut back a little bit and just be able to enjoy it a little more,” Stewart said.
The Nick Trivelas band plays traditional Greek music on an outdoor stage to a large crowd.
Nadine Saleeby, left, a kitchen co-chair, poses with festival chairwoman Niki Stewart, who is involved in advertising, purchasing and obtaining sponsors for the festival, during a rare break in the cooking.
Katerina Vergos has been a vendor at the festival for more than two decades and sells wares imported from Greece in her shop Ola Kala Designs.
The Aegean Duo, Steve, left, and Nick have been playing at the Columbia Greek Festival for more than a decade.
The GOYA group, comprised of dancers from 9th through 12th grade wearing authentic handmade costumes, performs traditional Greek folk dancing.
Festival attendees can appreciate the newly remodeled iconography of the dome in the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral during a self-guided or guided tour. Here, the Resurrection of the Lord is depicted in the North Niche with Christ pulling Adam and Eve up from their tombs in the center.
