Greek Festival
St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral
Hartford
May 30, 2024
The Greek Festival has been an event in Hartford for 50 years, and somehow I’ve always missed it. Not this year. I arrived on the first day just as the sun began to set to tents full of people eating and live Greek music playing on stage.
Away from the masses enjoying Greek delicacies, down a corridor and a flight of stairs, was the vendor area. I’d been told that there would be many more vendors on Friday and Saturday, which are considered the main days of the festival. There was still some very interesting stuff to see on Thursday evening though.
The first booth I stopped by had a tiny fireball named Patricia Caratasios staffing it. She was talking a mile a minute, showing me all of the handcrafted wares she’d brought for the festival.
“I’ve got woodwork, canvases, magnets, sea horses, hangars, fish, peg boards and more,” she said, darting around the booth to show me her various products. And she really did have all of that and more.
Patricia normally works in Wethersfield; tthis was the third time that she made the trek with her goods to sell during the festival. She’s been attending the church her whole life. She was baptized at the Jefferson Street site before the church moved to its current location on Fairfield Avenue in 1966, and was 9 years old when the Greek Festival began a half century ago.
Nearby was a table stacked with a variety of candles and three kids sitting behind them. I asked them if they had made the candles themselves. In fact they had, under their brand Mr. Candle. The business was started by Stamos Kapolas, who is the ripe old age of 14. He was looking for a business to start, and had experience making candles, so the two went hand in hand. He hired his cousins Lucas Wyszynski (12) and Anna Kapolas (14 going on 15) to handle sales and marketing, respectively. The business opened in late October last year, with a presence on Etsy, Facebook and Instagram.
I looked through the candles, recognizing the familiar smells of french vanilla and green apple. Then I saw one that caught my attention. The kids encouraged me to smell it, and I was sold. $12 later, I was the owner of a Fruit Loops smelling candle.
The last booth I stopped by was appropriately named “I’m Cute and I Gnome It,” which naturally deals in fashionable gnomes. The owner, who hails from Marlborough, doesn’t make the gnomes herself. She decorates and accessorizes them for seasons and events. She travels across the state to craft fairs and festivals to sell them. I quickly found my favorites among the dozens of gnomes, fellow writers struggling to hit their deadlines.
Before I left the shopping area, I went back over to the kids and asked them the most important question: What kind of food should I try?
“Gyros and loukoumades,” the said without hesitation. I practiced my pronunciation with them a few times. Gyros is not pronounced like “Ji-rose”, as if the first syllable rhymes with “hi”. It sounds more like “yeer-rosh,” at least I think.
Loukoumades was a little more difficult for me; that sounds like “lew-kew-ma-des,” with the last syllable rhyming with “res” from “resident.”
And the kids were right. I got a lamb gyros that tasted amazing. The lamb was tender but well cooked, with a salty, rich flavor that was mediated by just the right amount of tzatziki, a white sauce inside the pita.
The loukoumades were my favorite. They’re like donut holes, but fried a little harder and covered with honey and nuts. They’re the perfect dessert because they’re not too sweet, so I could stuff myself with them without feeling like I was overdoing it.
I had a blast, and it was only the first day of the festival. Several people told me that there would be far more people on the weekend for the festival. I’m definitely planning to go back and see for myself.
NEXT
The Greek Festival continues at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral through Saturday.
It’s the weekend, so Jamil is relaxing.
