Fresno’s Greek Fest is still on, but it’s a drive-thru this year. Here’s what to expect
With the COVID-19 pandemic still spreading, organizers of the Fresno Greek Fest knew the hand-in-hand dancing and lines of people waiting for baklava wasn’t going to happen this year.
So they’re doing the next best thing: A drive-thru event focused on the food.
Several of them, actually.
Starting this Saturday, and continuing once a month through at least December, St. George Greek Orthodox Church will host events where people order their food online and pick it up without ever leaving the cars.
For September’s event, they’re selling a Greek meal for $17. It includes a quarter of an Athenian chicken, rice pilaf, fasolakia (Greek green beans), Greek salad, and karidopita (walnut cake drenched in syrup).
The meals can be ordered and paid for online at https://fresnogreekfest.showare.com and must be ordered by the end of the day Wednesday, Sept. 16 (though it’s likely that deadline will be extended).
You can choose a time to pick up the meals on Saturday, Sept. 19 when ordering online, between noon and 7 p.m.
Diners are asked to wear masks while going through the drive-thru at the church at 2219 N. Orchard St. Enter from Yale Avenue.
A Fresno tradition
The festival is a Fresno staple, and regularly attracts more than 20,000 people over three days, with lots of dancing, food and ouzo, a Greek spirit. This year would have been its 60th anniversary, noted Greek festival chairman Peter Vallis.
“It shouldn’t come as any surprise we’ve got a COVID problem and a lot of our YiaYias cannot be out and about cooking with a lot of other people,” he said of the grandmothers who normally cook much of the food.
“For a lot of them, it’s been terrible because that’s been their socialization. They cook a couple days of a week, they kibitz, they have lunch and give each other hugs, and all that stuff is taboo right now.”
But they’re making the best of it.
They’ve found a way – with the health department’s approval – to cook and assemble meals while socially distanced using the church’s empty hall.
The festival raises money for local soup kitchens and food pantries.
More Greek food
Other events will be held on Oct. 24, Nov. 21 and another is in the works for several days in December. If they go well, they might keep doing it monthly, Vallis said.
There’s been some logistical gymnastics happening behind the scenes to make it happen, so the organizers are starting small with the September event. They plan to expand the menu each month.
Expect more baked goods, gyro bowls and lamb shanks in the months to come, for example.
The group is also working on getting a liquor license so it can sells bottles of Greek beer, wine and ouzo.
“While we don’t have tents and dancing and the rest of it, we will have a little bit of flair,” Vallis said. “There will be some familiar faces and the food will be good.”
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 1:45 PM.
