Grand Rapids festival celebrates Greek culture with food, dance

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The 13th annual Yassou! Greek Cultural Festival was underway Friday at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Grand Rapids.

The festival celebrates Greek culture and heritage through food, drink and Greek dancing.

Tiana Petricevic, one of the event’s marketing chairs, said that there is something for everyone as the festival will host church tours, cooking lessons and children’s activities.

“It means so much to us that time and time again, people come out,” Petricevic said. “Gratitude is, I think, the best word that I can find for it, because this community means so much to me.”

Whether it’s the flaming cheese, known as Saganaki, or the smells of lamb on the grill, people keep coming back year after year.

Sisters Nicole and Brianne Wojciakowski live close by and have been coming to the festival since it started. They say it’s a great way to connect with the community.

“I think the great thing for me to see is that there might not be a lot of people who are Greek, but they can still celebrate and act Greek for the night and be Greek, which is why it’s called be Greek,” Brianne Wojciakowski said. “I love that it brings out the community and it’s something that’s in our backyard and has been in our backyard for years, but we just love how big it’s been growing these past 13 years.”

Another thing that often keeps people coming back is the Greek dancing.

“I have been dancing for the past 20 years, ever since I was young,” dancer Stella Spero said. “We have the ages of preschool up until college age and older. And it’s really important for me to connect to my Greek culture by dancing.”

Petricevic said some of the proceeds will support the Equest Center for Therapeutic Riding , which provides horseback riding for individuals with disabilities.

The festival, which has an admission fee of $3 for those 13 and older, continues Saturday until 10 p.m. For more information and a look at the schedule, click here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.