[ad_1]
The Greek community has been a piece of the Halifax mosaic for decades. Generations have preserved the culture and passed it on since the 1930s. The community is celebrating another year with another festival in the city this weekend.
Dozens of Greek Canadians are sharing their food, music, dances and other performances with the rest of the society.
The festival is important for the Greek community because it keeps them together, said Nancy Panagiotakos, who is one of the cooks. “We want to show our culture, food and costumes to the larger community.”
The community has been preparing for the event since the first of May, she said. “It seems to be working. People with other cultures seem to enjoy our festival too.”
She immigrated to Canada in 1966, and worked with Halifax Greeks to introduce the first Greek festival to the city in 1985.
Panagiotakos started learning how to prepare Greek food when she was young. After moving to Halifax, she worked with her husband in his family’s restaurant. Then they ran a few nightclubs in the city. They ended up running the Bluenose restaurant in the downtown for 24 years before selling it recently to another Greek family.
She enjoys working with other community members to deliver a taste of Greece. “We have our moments, when we get tired, or not enough hands sometimes. But it’s so fun,” she said.
One of the objectives of the festival is to get the new generation involved with the culture and the traditions. “We like to see them stepping slowly in our shoes,” Panagiotakos said. “With us it was different, because we came from Greece and we wanted to continue with our culture.”
Many Greek immigrants worked in the food industry after moving to Canada. However, the new generation tend to do different jobs. “They’re not in restaurants.” Panagiotakos said.
During the festival, young Greeks get to prepare some of their traditional food. And they seem to like it, Panagiotakos said.
“A lot of our parents and grandparents moved here from Greece to help build our community, and it’s important to carry that on for us and for our kids,” said Leah Doumakis, a young food server at the event.
Visitors can choose the Greek plate with meat, the vegetarian plate, pork souvlaki plate or chicken souvlaki plate. “I’m helping food platers to get their food to the customers,” said Doumakis.
She learned Greek cooking in Canada. “I’m not as good as my parents and grandparents, but I definitely can cook (Greek food),” said Doumakis with a laugh. She plans to teach her future kids how to cook their food.
“From the age of seven years, almost every kid is part of the festival because they start as dancers,” said George Christakos, one of the organizers. “We see each other at weddings and different things, we come together as a group,” he said.
Christakos, 35, has been involved in the festival for more than 25 years. “The most interesting thing is that you get to interact with different ages and different generations,” he said. “I’m getting to meet and understand some of the older generation and see about their personalities — now I’m working with them, joking with them, and that’s beautiful.”
The festival runs till June 9 at St. George’s Greek Orthodox community centre at 1146 Purcells Cove Rd.
[ad_2]
