Seven-year-old Rosalia Economos stood in front of her church elders and asked to dance. No, this wasn’t a kiddie remake of “Footloose.” Rosalie wanted to perform Greek dances at the Atlanta Greek Festival like her father did years ago. “It was important to her to learn her culture,” said Jimmy Economos, Rosalia’s dad. “When a 7-year-old speaks in front of her elders, they listen.”
Indeed they do. The Atlanta Greek Festival was once one of the highlights of Atlanta’s festival season. For four days, tens of thousands clapped to the dancing, delighted in the food and learned about the Hellenic culture at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation on Clairmont Road in Atlanta. Slowly, however, the fest started to lose its luster. The older generation either died or reduced its involvement. The younger ones weren’t that interested.
“I’m first-generation Greek, and back then our parents only married Greeks. You only hung out with Greeks,” Jimmy Economos said. “My father’s generation started dying out and my generation married non-Greeks, having kids and moving away.”
COVID-19 was nearly a knockout blow. The festival was reduced to selling preordered food that purchasers picked up in a drive-thru.
Now, the Atlanta Greek Festival is returning Sept. 19-22, and its organizers promise it will be bigger and better than ever. Shouts of “opa!” will ring out as the festival once again will offer food (many new menu options, such as rice bowls of lamb, chicken and veggies and revamped desserts), dancing, crafts, entertainment, a food market and church tours. The fest will also introduce a lineup of Greek-inspired craft cocktails and late-evening dancing for the over-21 crowd that aims to give the feel of dancing at a taverna on Mykonos.
Photo courtesy of Atlanta Greek Festival
Photo courtesy of Atlanta Greek Festival
Oneiro, a band that plays traditional Greek music with an upbeat flavor, will entertain and DJ Laki will keep the energy high on the late-night dance floor.
“It’s all the things I grew up with,” said Michael Lambros, festival chairman. “The thing that makes it so special for our community is that for a lot of us, this is the only chance in the year to experience our culture and let others experience it as well. It’s important to make sure that our culture stays alive and that the second and third generations know how to dance, how to make the food and pastries. The younger people are coming in. We’re Greeks and we’re a welcoming people.”
Greeks aren’t the only “welcoming people.” Whether it is this month’s Atlanta India Festival, the Lantern Festival sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta in February or the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival in May, there is likely to be a metro area ethnic community joyfully showcasing its culture for others on just about any weekend.
“Coming to JapanFest is the best way to experience Japan without going there,” said Yoshi Domoto, executive director of the Japan-America Society of Georgia. JapanFest started in 1981 as a weeklong event and morphed into a weekend mega festival that is expected to attract upward of 25,000 on Sept. 21-22 at Duluth’s Gas South Convention Center. “The festival will showcase all things Japanese from the food to theater and musical performances, dance, flower arrangements, bonsai as well as more contemporary pop culture,” he said.
Photo courtesy of the Japanese-America Society of Georgia
Photo courtesy of the Japanese-America Society of Georgia
It also honors the city and state’s business relationship with Japan. In 1973, Georgia opened its first international office in Tokyo, and, a year later, the Consulate General of Japan was established in Atlanta. More than 600 Japanese-affiliated companies based in Georgia will display their products in the Japanese Businesses in Georgia exhibition.
“There are 650 Japanese companies in the state that employ 37,000. So, there is a close economic and business tie between Japan, the Southeast and Atlanta,” Domoto said.
Not only is JapanFest geared to locals learning about the country, but Domoto said it’s extremely important for the families of Japanese workers in Georgia and Japanese Americans from throughout the Southeast to stay in touch with the culture of the country they’ve left behind. “We pride ourselves in passing our culture down generation to generation,” he said.
The festival’s offerings include performances by Miyabiya Japan that offers a blend of traditional and modernized Kabuki theater, the Matsuriza Taiko Japanese Drum Troupe and a Rakugo master storyteller. In addition, there will be games, demonstrations by traditional craftspeople and a wide variety of Japanese food and goods.
While upcoming festivals such as the two Korean ones and the Stone Mountain Highland Games showcase high-profile countries, others such Serb Fest and RomFest, a Romanian gathering, serve to introduce the countries to those who may not be as familiar with their cultures.
Photo courtesy of Serb Fest / Kristina Mijatovic
Photo courtesy of Serb Fest / Kristina Mijatovic
“This is our fifth festival. We do it so we can represent our country, our culture and show our traditional food to those who may not know about Serbia,” said Serb Fest committee member Branka Blagojevic. “We’re a very small community, only about 150 families. We mostly came here during the late ’90s due to the Balkan situation (a civil war resulting in Serbia’s independence from Yugoslavia). We’re all proud immigrants, many don’t have high education levels or great-paying jobs like other cultures have. But we were able to establish a new life, purchase land, build a church, help each other and give back to the community.”
Taking place Sept. 28 at the Saints Peter and Paul Serbian Orthodox Church in Lilburn, the fest will include native dancing, which is similar to Greek dancing but also showcases the regional differences in traditional dress and dancing styles within the country. “We love when people join in and try to learn the steps, Blagojevic said. “Complete strangers are dancing together and becoming friends. That’s my fondest memories of the festivals we’ve had.”
Photo courtesy of Serb Fest / Kristina Mijatovic
Photo courtesy of Serb Fest / Kristina Mijatovic
As with any festival, food is an integral part. Among the dishes available will be lamb fire-roasted on a spit, cabbage stew, pork or beef sausages and a cheese pastry.
“I’ve noticed the biggest surprise for people is actually our food,” said Blagojevic. “We’ve had people come to the festival, try our food and come back the next year just for the food. They’re surprised how good it is. It truly makes my heart grow.”
Economos recently took his family to the Colors of India Family Festival at Stone Mountain Park. “It was very interesting, and the Indian laser show was wild,” he said. “It was a great learning experience.”
That speaks to his aspirations for the Atlanta Greek Festival and those of leaders of other international festivals: to encourage understanding and unity in the greater community, and to pass their culture down to their own children and grandchildren.
“The Greek community all came together and said we want to put our kids back into this and teach them,” he said of the push that led to the Atlanta Greek Festival’s revival. “We either lose it completely or get the momentum back for the next generations.”
If you go
Atlanta Greek Festival. 5-10 p.m. Sept. 19, 5-11 p.m. Sept. 20, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sept. 21, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 22. $6. Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, 2500 Clairmont Road NE., Atlanta. 404-633-5870, atlantagreekfestival.org.
Atlanta India Festival. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sept. 21. Free. Sr. Mary’s Orthodox Church, 1950 Old Alabama Road, Roswell. 404-849-0796, atlantaindiafestival.com.
Photo courtesy of the Japanese-America Society of Georgia
Photo courtesy of the Japanese-America Society of Georgia
JapanFest. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 21, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 22. $16 advance, $20 door. Gas South Convention Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway. Duluth. 404-522-6938, japanfest.org.
The Original Korean Festival. 5-9 p.m. Sept. 27, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sept. 28. $10. Korean Community Center, 5900 Brook Hollow Parkway, Norcross. 770-813-8988, atlkoreanfestival.com.
SerbFest. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sept. 28, noon-6 p.m. Sept. 29. Free. Saints Peter and Paul Serbian Orthodox Church, 1558 Hewatt Road, Lilburn. facebook.com/serbfestatlanta.
Korean Festival. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Oct. 5, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 6. $15-$20. 5900 Sugarloaf Parkway, Lawrenceville. koreanfestivalfoundation.com.
Conyers Latin Festival. Noon-6 p.m. Oct. 6. Free. Olde Town Conyers, 901 Railroad St., Conyers. 678-806-5677, unidoslatinoassociation.org.
Cumming Greek Festival. 3-9 p.m. Oct. 18, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 19, noon-5 p.m. Oct. 20. Free. Saints Raphael, Nicholas & Irene Greek Orthodox Church, 3074 Bethelview Road, Cumming. 770-781-5250, facebook.com/greekfestival.
Stone Mountain Highland Games. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 18-20. $25 adult, under 12 free; $22.50 in advance. Stone Mountain Park. 1000 Robert E. Lee Blvd., Stone Mountain. 770-498-5690, smhg.org.
RomFest Festival. 1-7 p.m. Oct. 19-20. Free. Saints Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church, 664 Dickens Road, Lilburn. 703-362-2473, facebook.com/romfestatlanta.
Native American Festival and Pow Wow. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 31, Nov. 1; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 2-3. $15.99 (festival only ticket); $20 daily parking pass. Stone Mountain Park Historic Square. 1000 Robert E. Lee Blvd., Stone Mountain. 770-498-5690, stonemountainpark.com.
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