The 44th Annual Cardiff Greek Festival was once again a popular spot to visit last weekend as thousands of people stopped by the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church grounds to take part in the festivities of this popular event. The Greek Festival opened Saturday morning with a ribbon cutting and dedication involving members of the Parish Council, the church, city, local and state dignitaries, taking place in front of the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church. The design of the church is according to traditional Greek Island Byzantine architecture found in churches built throughout the Mediterranean. The church is built in the form of a cross with a thirty-foot diameter dome that is covered with 250,000 gold ceramic tiles, each measuring one square inch. The church began in 1979 with worship taking place for four years in the cafeteria of a local junior high school in Solana Beach. Groundbreaking for the exiting church took place on December 5, 1982, with the completion of the Interim Church completed in September 1983. By 1986, an additional three acres was purchased next to the church property for additional parking and for the construction of Senior Housing, a village of thirty, one- and two-bedroom garden-style apartments. These are built resembling the architecture of the Greek Island of Skyros. They were completed in 1990. The service of the consecration of the existing church was held on Sunday, June 17, 2001. Tours of the church were offered to visitors at various times on Saturday and Sunday and also served as a respite from the heat throughout the day.
When we attend the Greek Festival, we generally have a set plan in place after walking through the entrance. After watching the official opening of the festival, we always head straight to the tent selling the delicious Tiropita and Spanakopita. These are Cheese or Spinach phyllo pastry pies. We got one of each. From here we head to the Marketplace tents selling a variety of items. Carolyn always visits the Austrian Swarovski Jewelry and Shakeels Concept (Italian Lampwork Murano Jewelry). Next to these vendors is the beautiful Olive Wood designs of Holy Branch of Olive!. Several other stops take us to Greek Envy, Julie’s Gift Collection and Kantyli Greek Goods selling various Greek goods, clothing and other items. The Greek Deli offers a number of products to make the amazing Greek dishes.
By this time, we are generally ready for a trip to the Greek Food Lane where you can purchase Gyros, Feta Fries, Souvlaki, Loukoumades, Frappes and Sagnaki. The Sagnaki was new to the festival this year, Flambe Fried Cheese on Pita Bread. The Loukoumades are the very sweet Greek donuts with drizzles of honey, cinnamon and nuts. The Frappes, iced Greek coffee, were popular due to the very hot day. Carolyn and I usually share a Gyros, Gyro meat (lamb) with onions, tomatoes and tzatziki sauce in a warm pita bread. We have in the past headed to the Greek Cusina Restaurant Tent to share a selection of Greek dishes. These include your choice of Lamb Shank or Roasted Greek Lemon Chicken and a sampling of Pastitsio, Spanakopita, Fasolakia, Domathes, Pilafi and Salata. The Pastitsio is like Italian lasagna except with macaroni and cheese bechamel sauce. The Fasolakia is green beans in a tomato sauce and the Dolmathes are grape leaves stuffed with rice and herbs. Pilafi is Greek baked rice. You had better be hungry when you try these dishes and getting there early helps as later in the day the line is very long as you wait your turn to pick out the food you want to try.
After finding a semi-cool spot in the Taverna Restaurant Tent to eat and trying Greek Mythos Beer, we headed over to the Kafenio to purchase Greek Pastries to take home. The strong Greek coffee was also on sale here. The pastry items are sold individually and can cost anywhere from $4 to $6 for each item. Carolyn usually gets several slices of Baklava, the phyllo pastry with walnuts and honey syrup and this year she also tried a slice of Karydopita, a spicy walnut honey cake topped with nuts. I usually get an Almond Crescent cookie and some years a Kourambiethes, butter cookie covered with powdered sugar. There were eight different types of cookies you could purchase and numerous other pastry items. One interesting one was the Thiples, thin deep-fried dough covered with honey and nuts.
Throughout the day, beginning at noon, entertainment was scheduled on the Taverna Main Stage featuring the Olympians, a Greek Dance Band complete with Greek Dance instructors teaching anyone interested the traditional Greek Dances. Greek folk dancers also performed at various times. A Kids Zone featured inflatables and other games as well as selling hot dogs, chips, cookies, cotton candy, snow cones, soda, juice and water. Also scheduled at various times was Greek Wine Tasting and a Book Store Tent and Photo Booth where you could get a photo with a Greek background as if you were in Santorini.
This is a fun and very tasty event that occurs on the first weekend of September every year and is well worth attending. There is ample parking as the church shares a large parking area with Mira Costa College. The location is 3459 Manchester Ave., just west of the Manchester turnoff from Highway 5. Go to www.cardiffgreekfest.com for more information each year.
Several other interesting offerings by Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church is the Greek Language School where you can learn to speak Greek, www.schgreekschool.com and in December the church will sponsor Harmony Under the Mistletoe featuring the holiday sounds of the Masters of Harmony and the Pacific Coast Harmony. This will occur on December 7th at 3:00 pm. Tickets on sale now at www.stsconstantinehelen.ludus.com.
