To the surprise of no one, putting on a successful Our Greek Village Food Festival takes, well, a village.
Hosted annually by Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Vallejo, the festival serves as an open house of sorts, inviting the community to experience Greek food, music, and culture while helping sustain the church and its community efforts throughout the year.
Locally, it’s known as an annual tradition where attendees can feast on gyros, spanakopita, and tender lamb, but for the hands that prepare the food and help bring the festival to life, it’s much more.
“It takes a village to pull this off every year,” said longtime volunteer Deme Stall-Nash.
And that village, she added, is becoming increasingly difficult to assemble.
Finding enough volunteers as parishioners balance work and other responsibilities is just one of the challenges that come with hosting an event of this magnitude. Nonetheless, they persist.
“But all in all, we always pull it off,” Stall-Nash said with a smile.
And for the volunteers who spend months preparing it, the festival means another year of keeping a decades-old tradition alive.
Bobby Kalivitis plays the mandolin with the Mythos band out of San Jose during the Our Greek Village Food Festival and Market at Saint Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church on Saturday in Vallejo. (Chris Riley—Times-Herald)
Catherine Stubas, one of the festival’s co-chairs, alongside Roland Ramirez and Itziana Elkins, said older parishioners have also been working to teach others how to prepare traditional dishes, as a way of helping ensure that recipes and techniques are passed on rather than lost.
Among the festival’s offerings are gyros, souvlaki, spanakopita, shrimp, lamb, and of course the more traditional dishes like Pastitsio, a Greek-style baked pasta dish often compared to lasagna, and Gemista, or stuffed peppers with rice.
There are also Greek coffee, chocolates, and other imported products, including Greek beer and wine, which Stubas says help give visitors a more authentic taste of the cuisine and culture.
In its entirety, the festival is one of the church’s largest productions — one that requires months of shopping and coordinating supplies.
Some food preparation even begins as early as August, with parishioners working to prepare items that can be frozen ahead of time. Other dishes are prepped during the week leading up to the festival, still requiring volunteers to spend long hours marinating, cooking, and assembling the food.
As Stall-Nash explained, it truly is a community effort.
The volunteers who do show up also really represent a wide span of the church’s many generations, she added. This year’s youngest volunteer was 6-year-old Nina, the daughter of the parish priest, while the oldest volunteer is an impressive 93 years young.
Along with a few tweaks to the menu, this year’s festival also brought some new additions, including the return of live music.
The band Mythos performed during the festival, helping to set the stage for a day of lively tunes. “It’s more of the vibe,” said Stall-Nash, “really encourages people to get up to dance.”
Along with food and music, visitors took church tours, participated in several giveaways and browsed handmade items.
While larger Greek festivals around the Bay Area can draw massive crowds, Stubas said the Vallejo festival offers something different.
People who attend, she said, often appreciate the smaller, more intimate feel. “It’s homier,” Stubas said. “It’s a homier church and a homier community.”
That sense of community is ultimately what organizers hope visitors take away from the festival.
The parish was founded by Greek immigrants roughly eight decades ago, Stubas said, and while its Greek heritage remains an important part of its identity, the congregation has evolved alongside the diverse community that surrounds it.
From left, Elijah Benner, John Romas and Jesus Perez work on making wood-fired pizzas during the Our Greek Village Food Festival and Market at Saint Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church on Saturday in Vallejo. (Chris Riley—Times-Herald)
“It very much looks like Vallejo, and it’s a big mix of everybody,” she said.
That same blend of heritage and community is reflected in the festival, which has been held for upwards of 60 years.
For longtime attendees, the event is a chance to return to a tradition they have enjoyed for years — maybe even decades. And for newcomers, it is an opportunity to discover the parish and experience a piece of authentic Greek culture right here in Vallejo.
Dining and Cooking