July 16, 2010
GREEK DAY ON BROADWAY
West Broadway was closed from Blenheim Street to McDonald Street on June 27th for the annual Greek Day which was organized by the Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC and sponsored by Krinos Foods as well as a large number of other smaller sponsors. The crowds were out in full force for the street festival which took place from 11 am until 9:30 pm. Most of the day was sunny and warm. A few sprinkles occurred during the day but it was not enough to dampen the spirits of those in attendance.
There were plenty of activities for the children in the Kids Zone which featured rides, games, crafts and face painting. The street was alive with music from the Sea to Sky crew who brought the sounds of Greece’s hottest hits and remixes to get people dancing in the street. The main stage featured folk dance performances by local groups, the Hellenic Community of Vancouver Dancers, the Cretan Dancers, the Alexander the Great Dancers, Diaspora Dancers of Surrey, Socrates School Dancers and the Omeros Dancers as well the Asteria Dancers from Seattle. Also featured were Croatian dance and music and Serbian dancers. A free evening concert featured the music of VOMVA.
The Boutari Wines Greek Cooking tent featured dishes prepared by chefs Alex Chronakis, Nikos Patsis, Angela Dikeakos and Christina Lanaras. The Hellenic Experience tent gave out free samples of Greek coffees, teas, sweets, olives, oil, spices and herbs. The Market Place featured small vendors with a selection of hand crafted jewellery and gifts. There were also displays of ceramic art with the artisans at work. Also featured were official Greek day merchandise such as Greek fisherman hats, cooking aprons and tote bags. Greek school children had hand crafted souvenirs for sale, the proceeds of which were to benefit BC Children’s Hospital. Those attending the festival were not restricted only to the merchandise for sale on the street but were also able to access the businesses located along both sides of the street which were also open.
Of course as always the main attraction at the festival is the food. The smell of meat roasting on the grills wafted all over the street. Vendors sold lamb, souvlaki, gyros, spanokopita, Greek salad, baklava and loukemades and of course beer. A drawback to the festival though was the long line-ups at the various food vendors who had trouble keeping up with the demand. A few more booths would have helped ease this.
Of course the day could not have happened without a lot of volunteers. As the Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC president Demitrios Douzenis stated “volunteers are the fundamental basis, the inspiration, and the force behind any successful endeavor. From what you see here today, our community and city is blessed with generous and devoted people”. Mr. Douzenis also went on to say that the Hellenic Canadian Congress represents much more than just the Greek Day festival “The Congress takes pride in its role as an advocate for education, vis-à-vis the Hellenic Studies Programme at SFU. Moreover, we represent the interests of Greek-Canadians to all levels of government, and collaborate with other cultural groups. Our principal mandate is to unite and represent the nearly 30,000 British Columbians of Greek descent.”
The Hellenic Canadian Congress and Krinos Foods announced that the proceeds of Greek Day this year will be used to buy equipment for the BC Children’s Hospital.
EAST VANCOUVER COMMUNITY – GREEK SUMMER FESTIVAL
The annual Greek Fest of the Greek Orthodox Community of East Vancouver was held from June 29th to July 11th on the grounds of the Sts. Nicholas & Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Church on Boundary Road and Joyce in Vancouver. It was open daily from noon until about 11 pm. Since its beginning as a weekend fundraiser for the church the festival had grown into a ten day festival, including Canada Day. That was stretched even more this year, into thirteen days. If indeed the Greek festival began in 1987 as stated on the website then someone has not done the right math. It would only make this the 24th annual (or 23rd anniversary), not the 25th as indicated on the programme.
Along with the Greek Orthodox Community of East Vancouver this event was sponsored by a number of local businesses including Omega Travel, Innovation Networks, Aluco Security Group, AK Distributors, Big Rock Brewery, Sunrise Washroom Rentals Ltd., and BN Neighbour’s Restaurant & Pizza House and by Make-A-Wish British Columbia & Yukon. The festival is free to attend and is run entirely by volunteers.
The food tent featured roast lamb, souvlaki, gyros, spanakopita, baklava and of course the very popular loukemades. As well there were several small stands selling ice-cream, fresh BC fruit, souvenirs and gifts. The face painting booth was popular with the children. Alpha Video presented taped music throughout the days. The dance performances took place on the stage mainly only in the evenings but with a mid-afternoon start on the weekends. Local Greek dance groups included the Greek Community of East Vancouver, Cretan Dancers, Dimitri’s Greek Dance School, Diaspora Hellenic Dance Group of Surrey, Socrates Greek School, Omeros Greek Dancers and Pythagoras Greek Dancers. Coming all the way from Greece was the dance group “Rizes”. The entertainment was very multicultural as many local ethnic dance groups also took part, including Croatian, Serbian, Turkish, Spanish, Estonian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hawaiian, gypsy and others.
The proceeds are used to benefit the church community as well as various charities. The major project for the next few years will be the building of the community center which will include a hall/gymnasium and meeting rooms as well as classrooms for the Greek school.
WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT – ANGELATOS -DOHERTY
Nikolas and Ekaterina Angelatos of Kelowna, BC (formerly of Winnipeg, Manitoba) are pleased to announce the marriage of their son Stavros Angelatos to Kristine Doherty on Saturday, July 3rd. The poolside ceremony took place at the home of the bride’s father in Penticton, BC. The grooms sisters, aunt and cousins came from Winnipeg for this special occasion. His three uncles who live in BC also attended with their spouses. The young couple will reside in Kelowna.
