Atlanta Greek Festival

The Atlanta Greek Festival is hosted at the Greek Orthodox Church on Clairmont Road — a really beautiful place. They run shuttles from the pre-​arranged parking lots to get you to the event. Cool. The dance performances are quite fun/​cute. I wasn’t a big fan of the food. Not even the baklava. And I am a fan of baklava. They have a drive-​thru option for those who are just interested in picking up some of those treats. Most of the event is held outside, but you can venture inside the church to peruse some lovely Greek clothing and treasures. I think it is great to see once, but it is not something that I long to visit every year.

I’m following Ashley N.‘s lead and am giving this festival 4 stars because of the amazing food.
Seriously, the way that the festival was organized this year was genius. I had been a few years ago and maybe my memory sucks (this is actually very probable) but I don’t remember the food lines and seating being so well done. Though the line was long, in no time, I was at the ordering station, where everyone had iPads with the square to allow credit/​debit card payment. I have to give it to Apple for making this payment method so accessible to businesses that in the past could not afford the machines.
I got the Beef Kapama Plate (beef tips simmered in wine and spices), which was seriously incredible. The temperature of the food, which was served in a styrofoam box and already packaged when I ordered it, was perfect. It was bordering on hot, which I did not expect. My festival companion ordered the Souvlaki Plate and experienced a similar nirvana when he tried his food. Both of our plates were served with rice pilaf, Greek-​style green beans, spanakopita, and a roll. Everything was very good, including the roll (which totally surprised me, as I expected it to be one of those school-​lunch bread rolls). We dined under the tent, which was a welcome respite from the warm sun that was peeking out from behind the storm clouds from earlier that morning. I don’t know much about Greek music and saw that some people found it to be boring, but having it in the background as I devoured my lunch really added to my experience. Did I mention that the bottled water was of the Samaria brand, from the Greek island of Crete. Uh, totally cool.
I didn’t get anything from the vendors, though I ended up wandering over to the dessert/​pastry section, where I looked at the marketplace goods (these included olive oil, pasta, cheese, spices, etc.) and ended up buying amigdalota (almond crescent cookies topped with slivered almonds — very reminiscent of Italian amaretti), galaktobouriko (creamy custard between buttered phyllo dough layers), and melomacarona (spice cookie with orange juice and olive oil). I really liked the first two, especially since I grew up in the Northeast and have an affinity for Italian-​American cookies and pastries. The melomacarona tasted like it was well-​made but it was a bit too sweet for me. I skipped on the baklava, as Greek baklava (that I’ve tried) is usually of the walnut variety and I prefer the kinds made with pistachios and/​or almonds (more typical of the Persian and Turkish).
Leaving the festival, I had to get the loukoumades, even though my stomach was on the verge of exploding. Who cares. These things are so good, they warrant any kind of sacrifice you can make. And the ones I got from this festival were excellent. Fried Greek doughnut holes covered in honey and cinnamon, there is absolutely nothing for me to hate. I recognize that this may not appeal to all palates, as it is deep-​fried and quite sweet, but anything sweetened with honey just makes all of my insides smile.
If I have the time, I will most likely gorge myself again next year at the next Atlanta Greek Festival.

I had yet to visit the Atlanta Greek Festival, but I was really excited when we had received tickets from another event we had attended back in September. The Greek Orthodox Cathedral is a gorgeous building off of Clairmont just a ways from Lavista and not far from Briarcliff or 85.
The best part of the festival is probably what everyone else will mention: Food. The baclava, lamb, Souvlaki, Greek Salad, Greek potatoes, gyros, etc are all wonderful. The food is probably the biggest draw to most who attend the festival and there are plenty of options beyond what I listed. The lines for the food tent back up pretty long, but it was pretty cool to see entire area replete with iPad kiosks for payment. It was nice to be able to pay with a credit card and not have to worry about cash.
Also, there were a few guys roasting two lambs on spits. It was awesome to watch them do this for all to watch with the coals on the ground and the deliciously prepared lamb roasting away. So much fun to watch.
The rest of the festival? Its a total sleeper. Super boring music, a few tents of things to look at, a separate room for pastries, a beer tent from Three Taverns, another tent selling hotdogs (?), and a play area for kids. It was so lame. I’m not trying to be negative, but it was boring after we ate… and saw everything after 5 minutes. The situation with drinks wasn’t interesting at all and the rest of the grounds were just as sleepy/​uninteresting.
One of the saving graces of the festival is how they run parking. It may not seem ideal, but the fact that the parking is free at the Century office plaza on the other side of the 85 is really nice. They run really nice shuttles to and from, too. Though, you may get stuck on a lumpy old school bus if you’re timing is off. Luckily, on the way back, we scored seats on one of the awesome air-​conditioned buses with TVs. Pretty rad.
Will we go back? Probably not. However, it’s worth at least one visit if you’ve never been.

The should have been called a food festival. As my friend pointed out… Just saying. lol.
There were plenty of food vendors around. There was the main food tent or the smaller to-​go tent for smaller portioned items: appetizer platters, kabobs, hot dogs, etc. There was also an alcohol tent, coffee and desserts tent, and an ice cream and milkshake stand. Additionally there was an area set up for beer on draft where there was a T.V. for the sports fanatics. There was one last area inside the cathedral selling all sorts of pastries. There was also a few local market representatives selling Greek products, cheese, and miscellaneous items here.
A kids tent and mini carnival set up was available for the kiddies. There was about 6 or so vendors selling souvenirs, handcrafted jewelry, paintings, and Greek attire and accessories. And lastly there was the huge stage where entertainment was provided. Since my friend and I came near the closing end of the festival yesterday, the DJ was mostly playing music and people were having fun with traditional Greek dances. It was more for the brave who didn’t mind the folks moseying around to watch and be entertained.
There was two areas for parking: one before the event location and one after. The location after passing the cathedral was $ 7, and it was at the local high school in the area. :/​The walk was super close, but there were constant shuttles coming and going for the elderly, kiddies, or tired folks. Lol.
Overall, the event was pretty fun if you’re able to catch the main entertainment events and enjoy eating Greek food. I thought it as cool how they were roasting (like on a stick with a fire below it) two huge lamb right on site; it was sold for $ 18 per pound. That was pretty awesome seeing and smelling that – see my picture.

One of my favorite fall festivals. Wine, gyros, potatoes, and baklava. What more could you ask for? I love the lamb on the spit. The music and dancing on the stage is very entertaining. I took the shuttle here from the century center. It was fast and plenty of parking. Buying the tickets online was great, since you could get a deal/​save some money. Can’t wait until next year!

Ópa!!!
This is probably my 7^th or 8^th year coming to the Atlanta Greek Festival and finally here is my much needed review after last nights (Friday’s) event.
Sorry about my long review, I just love telling stories. I grew up in Milwaukee, a city that was settled by a huge population of Greek, Polish, German, Hungarian, Italian, French, Irish, and most importantly its rich Native American culture.
We have festivals for all the cultures to represent multiculturalism and they are always great to visit to learn about languages, culinary, muzik, art, history and they are always fantastic to visit as many people dress in their countries traditional clothing. So I am so grateful that I have been exposed to so many different cultures, with that said I have been accustom to eating many different authentic foods and experiencing many heritages.
My review is compared and contrasted based on this festival and my up bring. You see, we have many Greek restaurants where I am from and they are owned and ran by the family. I have Greek friends and they are wonderful people, very loyal and extremely hardworking. That is how I will compare this festival with.
Now, The Atlanta Greek Festival has been around for a long time, 2014 is their 39^th year hosting this event and they have a lot of people who visit this festival over the four day span. My guess is that last night they must have had at least 1,000 people, probably more during the hours we were there. The place is packed and depending on when a person arrives, it can be almost impossible to find a place to park, so visitors should park at the Century Center Office Park on Clairmont Road and use the free shuttle bus that takes people to and from the festival.
As others have stated about the food quality. My personal opinion is because there is just so many people that visit the festival it is harder for them to make it like Yia Yia’s (Grandma) would make it. One can only imagine the effort going into making all this food. If you have Greek friends or visit a Greek restaurant the experience is going to be much different, as those people took so much more time to prepare those dishes. Granted, this is a festival, so the food is mass produced and quality usually will suffer, sadly.
[Admission]
The cost of entry into the festival is $ 5 for adults and it is free for children who are 12 and under. Seniors (65 and older) are only free on Friday.
[Hours]
Thursday (5 – 10); Friday (5 – 11); Saturday (11 – 11); Sunday (11 – 7)
[Food]
My wife had the chicken souvlaki plate, this is very popular and is what one would call fast food. This one consisted of pork tenderloin and chicken, which is grilled on a wooden skewer and it came with rice pilaf, green beans, spanakopita and one roll. I did try it and the chicken and tenderloin were very tender, so that was good. Though it could have had more flavour (oregano, thyme, lemon).
I had the pita gyro, pork, tomatoes, onions and a lot of Tzatziki, (strained yogurt to keep it thick, it is mixed with garlic, cucumbers, olive oil, salt and lemon juice). The pita was soaking wet and barely had any meat or contents in it, whoever put mine together used way too much Tzatziki. Nonetheless, it was much better than their Lamb sandwich, sliced lamb (a little tough) on dry 6 inch baguette.
[Desserts]
Usually I stay away from desserts. However, walking into the beautiful cathedral how could we resist all the beautiful looking pastries? We purchased the Amigdalota (crescent Christmas cookie); delicious! We also had one of their Melomakarona’s, topped with crushed walnuts, excellent!
[Entertainment]
Alpha Omega Sound, this is a group that plays music that can be heard from different regions in Greece. The dancers consist of a group of males and females who dance together and apart. They did a great job yesterday and were very enjoyable to watch. The Zorba Show, this is a really cool show of guys who do a lot of different acrobatics. It was impressive to watch one of the guys balance a cup of wine on his forehead.
[Conclusion]
If you love big crowds and experiencing festivals. This is definitely one to visit. However, don’t expect to have food that Yia Yia spent the whole day preparing to make you. It is sad to say, but those days were long ago and times are slowly changing, family restaurants are rare and are being replaced by corporation fast food chains.
My mother was a homemaker and sometimes started to prepare for dinner before noon. It saddens me to say, however, today most parents both have to work to get by and there just is not enough time in the day to prepare those old family recipes. You never had food, until you had food made with love (blood, sweat and tears).
[My rating: Food 2.5; Desserts 5; Staff 5; Live Entertainment 4; Kid’s Area 2; Shopping 3.]
[5×6 (ratings); 21.5÷30 = 71.6% or 3.5 Stars]
Anyway, visit the festival. It is good to get out and do something different, you should have fun.
[Review #215]

The food = amazing!
The festival itself = only 2 stars!
I was a little disappointed at the lack of festival. The main event was clearly the food, which was by far the best Greek food I’ve ever had in my life. But, other than about 3 shops, 2 beer/​wine tents, 4 kids rides and the main stage, there wasn’t much to the festival at all. We ate, we toured the church and we left. Do the drive thru instead!

I have to agree with Nina. I stopped by here to get some food last night. I was actually quite excited, b/​c one expects extra good food/​authentic food from a cultural event or festival. I imagine older Greek women at the church using decent ingredients to recreate their own grandmother’s recipes for pastries and hot dishes. It was not like that at all though from the taste at least. It’s kind of like eating at a really bad fast food Greek place that is not making any prideful attempt to serve even good fast food and much less so good Greek food.
If one does not have high expectations of the food though, you might be able to grab an okay (not good) gyro and walk about enjoying the scenery/​people. Heard they have face painting and stuff like that for kids too, which might be nice for a family event. In any case, spending a bit here helps the church which isn’t all bad at the end of the day…

I attended the last Greek Festival and unlike Brian K., I was pretty disappointed with the food preparation. Nothing authentic about it especially if it’s prepared by Greeks with taste from the homeland. The loukoumades were simply Dunkin Donut «munchkins» far from the delicious authentic desert that all Greeks are familiar with.
The cause for the Greek Festival I commend for all members to donate but their food needs a little MORE effort!!!

The Atlanta Greek Festival is one of the few festivals in this city for which I’m willing to pay an admission fee. In contrast to its counterparts, where the fees appear to go no further than the coffers of a promotional agency, all proceeds from this festival go directly to a worthy recipient — the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation. Although I’m not necessarily a religious man, I’m happy to support any cause that involves delicious food, particularly when it comes to the gloriously fried balls of cinnamon-​coated goodness known as loukoumades.
Food: The food at this festival is authentic, varied, and exceptionally prepared. Available offerings include everything from souvlaki and pastitsio to moussaka and gyro. Entrees come with bread, rice pilaf, beans, and spanakopita. There’s also a separate indoor area dedicated to various greek pastries, all of which are handmade in house by parishioners — some offerings include baklava and koulouria. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, they offer a drive through option, so you can enjoy these delicacies even if you don’t have time to attend the actual festival.
Service: This festival is run like a well-​oiled machine by the church’s parishioners — whether it be the older individuals running the admission tables, middle aged parents staffing the food tent, or teenagers using iPads to collect payment — everyone has a job and they do it graciously and well.
Atmosphere: The festival is housed on the grounds of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation on Clairmont Rd. Both the indoor and outdoor areas of the property are used — several entertainment and food tents line the parking lots, while the interior is dedicated to specialty shops, church tours, a Greek market, and a Greek pastry shop.
Cost: Admission is $ 5 for adults — children 12 and under are free every day and seniors 65+ are also free on Friday until 6PM. Admission tickets can be purchased online or at the door. Food varies in price, but most entrée plates are generally $ 10-​$ 12 and pastries are $ 1.50-$ 3 each. Credit cards are accepted at both the admission and food tents.
Other: The festival typically runs for four days (Thursday-​Sunday) during the first week of October. Hours vary by the day — Thursday (5pm-​8PM), Friday-​Saturday (11AM-7:30PM) and Sunday (11:30AM-6PM). Although a handful of nearby residents choose to transform their properties into temporary paid parking lots for the festival, parking on most nearby streets is prohibited and parking at the church is restricted to only volunteers and parishioners. As such, your best option is to park at the nearby Century Center (off Clairmont, by the Sam’s Club and Mykonos Taverna) and use the festival shuttle. Parking and the shuttle are free of charge — buses run approximately every five minutes.