When I say that the annual Greek Festival at Ss. Helen & Constantine Church in Annapolis, Maryland is popular…I really mean it. When the current new facility was built several years ago, they made sure to have a lot more parking. Unfortunately during festival time it still doesn’t help revelers much. As you can see in the picture below, cars are parked on both sides of Riva road as far as the eye can see and people are more than willing to hoof it to get there. There is free admission and free parking, and also a free shuttle that will bring you over from Annapolis High School. I made it there today (Friday) and the weather was absolutely perfect for an outdoor festival. As you can see from the photos, many others had the same idea…
If you have never been to this area, it is truly beautiful and only 5 minutes from the water. Make sure to take a drive around town and see many of the waterfront communities and restaurants.
Most years the festival goes from Friday through Sunday, but this year they added Thursday. Volunteers from the church make all of the food and those famous Greek desserts, and they also run all of the food stands.
These guys really know what they are doing, and each year it gets bigger and better. Just outside the front doors of the Church, there is a huge dessert stand which I have seen there every year. This year, they added some outdoor tables around the dessert booth so that you can briefly escape the throngs of people that await beyond the front doors.
I never really understood why they put the dessert stand there but I believe that it serves as an impulse buy for those leaving who may have changed their mind…told you they knew what they were doing.
Upon entering, you will find beautiful handmade jewelry of all kinds along with beautifully hand painted Greek Icons of all the different Saints in many different styles and sizes.
Beyond this point, you enter the main hall. On the right is the hot food line which includes all of the Greek favorites. There is a great meze platter ($7) which includes stuffed grape leaves, hummus, feta, olives, salonika peppers and pita bread.
Also available is a huge container of fried calamari ($8) and also Greek egg lemon soup ($3), traditional Greek salad ($3), spanakopita and tiropita ($3 each), along with pastitsio ($7), moussaka ($7), roast lamb ($20 for huge platter with 3 sides and pita bread), fish in tomato and onion sauce ($15 for huge platter with 3 sides and pita bread) and half roast chicken ($12 with 3 sides and pita bread).
The stuffed grape leaves (dolmades) that are served with lemon wedges are vegetarian version (3/$1) and the ones with meat are served with the traditional egg lemon sauce and are served warm (3/$2).
On the left of this main Hall is the main inside dining area where rows of tables allow diners to spread out and mingle with their neighbors…my favorite thing to do.
At the very front is a stage where there is always a Greek band along with beautiful Greek dancers dressed in traditional outfits.
There is scattered entertainment throughout the evening, so check the schedule on their website if you want to see the dancing.
This year they had a huge dessert table set up along the right in the main dining hall, and compared to previous years this was a much better set up. There were containers of assorted desserts that you could pick up to go. The desserts available were baklava ($3 plain or with ice cream $4), loukoumades ($4/$9 or with ice cream $4), koulourakia ($6/dozen, sweet butter cookies), finikia ($1.50 walnut cookies drizzled with orange syrup and rolled in nuts), galaktobouriko ($3.50 custard pie in filo with syrup), diples ($3 large fried flaky dough drizzled with syrup and nuts), kourambiedes ($1.50 Greek shortbread rolled in powdered sugar), rice pudding ($3.50) and the traditional Greek sweet bread made for many holidays called tsoureki ($7 per loaf).
The main hall also sold drinks and the traditional Greek coffee to go with your pastries.
The outdoor area included a gyro and souvlaki stall and a tent where you could purchase those yummy loukoumades (honey dipped donuts $4/$9).
There was also a huge tent for outdoor seating and it was packed with many happy people. There are many games for the kids in addition to face painting which will keep them adequately entertained.
Another huge tent also included more vendors with beautiful clothes and more jewelry and trinkets from Greece. Make sure to pick up something to ward off the evil eye!
The festival will go on through Sunday, the hours for Saturday will be 11am-11pm and Sunday 11am-7pm…make sure to go and linger over the great atmosphere and food. Everything is made with lots of love and is absolutely delicious. All of the money benefits the Church, so even if it is a little pricey, just remember it’s for a good cause.
Ss. Helen & Constantine Greek Orthodox Church, 2747 Riva Road, Annapolis, MD – 410-573-2072
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