The annual Greek festival brought traditional Greek culture, food, music and more to Asheville at the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church on Sept. 23-24. 

When I entered the festival, the first thing I noticed was the delightful smell of Mediterranean food. The chefs had things cooking like Greek salad, spanakopita, arni, gyro sandwiches, Greek fries, and pastries like baklava. I ordered the Greek fries. They were very fresh and had seasonings like oregano, dried dill, garlic and onion powder to top it off. 

Traditional Greek folk music, commonly called Dimotiki, played throughout the entire day by a live duo. By the sound of the music, it seemed that there were some African and Asian influences within the instrumental songs. The rhythm and tempo was very upbeat, and the songs with lyrics were in the Greek language, but had a very poetic rhythm. I thought it added a lot to the culture and essence of the festival. 

Church tours were given throughout the day of the festival, so I was able to go inside the orthodox church and learn about its history and architecture. The first thing I noticed when walking through the front door was the lit candles on both sides of the room. The lighting of candles is very significant to Orthodox worship. Candles should be lit when entering the church and during prayer, but there are certain times like gospel readings, and the sermon when lighting candles is considered inappropriate. There were several ornate, gothic-style stained glass windows all throughout the church. They were placed in certain spots for the outside lighting to highlight the beautiful sanctuary and altar. 

The Orthodox church was founded in 1922 by Greek immigrants with the desire to develop a community among themselves to worship. The establishment grew as people moved to the Asheville area around the late 1930s, and the building was completely renovated in 2007 to what we see today.