Greek Festivals!

I nearly forgot yesterday, that it's Greek Fesitval season here. I don't know if there is actually a season for this sort of thing, it just seems they all happen at once here.

This weekend is the venerable Atlanta Greek Festival. This is pretty much the gold standard of Greek festivals. Great food, traditional crafts and dances on display and lots and lots of Greek culture and pride. All held in the beautiful Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Clairmont Road. Which is actually the only thing I don't like. Don't get me wrong, the catherdral is beautiful and listening to the lecture about it's history and the history of Orthodoxy in general is always a highlight of my visits. The problem is that the festival has outgrown the grounds. I have found it nearly impossible to navigate through the crowds some years. Every year, I say I'm going to skip it because of the crowds... And every year I remember how great their roasted lamb is. Sigh.

Admission is $3 per person. Parking is free in the Century City Office Park and a shuttle will run you over to the festival and back. It's very efficiently done, so there's little waiting.

A little closer to my Northside beat is the Cumming Greek Festival. Less well known and far less crowded than its big brother downtown, this is held in a tiny country church in Cumming, Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene Orthodox Church on the weekend of Oct. 18 & 19th. Admission is free.

The Cumming Festival is smaller in every way, but the food. The organizers offer a bigger menu of Greek treats, and a more laid back atmosphere to go along with it. They've been holding this festival since 2005, which is plenty of time to work out the kinks, but not so much that word has gotten out about this hidden gem.

Something tells me I'm going to be eating lots of roasted lamb this month. Yum.