The Greek Festival in Houston, Texas

Every year at the beginning of October there is very fun event that takes place for four days and that is the Greek Festival. The history that brought in this festival started in 1917 when some Greek immigrants formed one of the largest Greek Orthodox Community in the United States right in downtown Houston. And the first event came to be in 1967 bringing not only the Greek community but a lot of locals as well with the attendance growing year after year becoming a very popular event in the city.

At the Greek Festival you can enjoy traditional dances, live Greek music, food and drinks. The festival is family oriented since they have a section for children to enjoy called the Athenian playground which includes inflatable slides and drinks and you can also attend the children's dance program.

For adults there is plenty to do you can watch the folk dances with the dancers dressed in typical attire, or head out to the gift shop and browse or buy some of the distinctive gold jewelry, pottery, cookbooks and aprons, books, CD's as well as the Greek Festival souvenirs. Or you can even attend one of the Cathedral tours in which you will learn about the history of Orthodoxx Christianity as well as the meaning of the symbols inside the Byzantine cathedral.

But the best thing about the festival (apart from the night live shows) has to be the food and drinks which you can get at different booths. The prices overall are not bad and the most expensive plate is the dinner plate which is $10.00 but it includes pastitsio (baked macaroni with beef), a cheese filled pastry (tiropita), a spinach and cheese rolled in phyllo pastry (spanakopita) and Greek salad. However if you want to try foods a la carte you can try the dolmades which are grape leaves stuffed with beef and rice or the souvlaki which is lamb and onions on a stick.

Of course do not miss their delicious desserts and pastries such as the baklava which has nuts, butter and honey, or the kourambiedes which are butter cookies with toasted almonds and topped with powdered sugar or the loukomades which are hot fried honey puffs and do not forget to taste the Greek coffee.

The Greek Festival has something for everyone, children and adults alike and a lot of the proceeds from the festival go to different charitable organizations.