Festival Has Food Fervor

The first thing one notices about the information provided to the media on this weekend’s 35th annual Greek Festival, sponsored by St. Anthony Greek Orthodox Church of the San Gabriel Valley, is the emphasis on food.

“That’s really one of the main attractions,” said Dean Treantafelles, the festival’s co-chair. “People that have been to Greece, or have known a Greek family, will come to the festival for the souvlakia,” or other delicacies.

There will be other activities on the festival grounds at Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia, such as exhibits of Greek arts and crafts and an Agora, a traditional Greek food market . . . .

That’s back to the food again.

But there also will be Greek bands and traditional Greek dancing by different groups from St. Anthony, even a dance in which the performer picks up a table with his teeth. Teeth, table . . . .

Again, back to the food.

You can choose from souvlakia (marinated lamb meat on a stick), moussaka (eggplant and meat casserole), dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves), spanakopites (phyllo dough stuffed with spinach and cheese), the traditional gyro and myriad desserts.

The goodies range in price from $1 to $8. Admission is $3 for adults or $1 for senior citizens; children 14 and younger get in free. Festival hours at the racetrack, 285 W. Huntington Drive, are noon to midnight Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.