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Date: 9/2/2021
EAST LONGMEADOW – The annual Taste of Greece event will return to East Longmeadow this year after being canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. The event will take place on Oct. 16 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 400 Prospect St.
The Taste of Greece is hosted by the St. Luke Greek Orthodox Church and has been a tradition for almost 20 years. According to Meg Dasco, representative for Taste of Greece, the event usually runs from Friday to Sunday with live entertainment and shopping.
“This year, it’s going to be very different. It’s going to be a very different Taste of Greece because we’re being cautious with COVID-19,” she said.
The one-day event will be take-out style only. Attendees will have access to a menu where they can pick out their meal, pay and then take it packaged to go. Tickets are not required to attend.
A variety of freshly prepared Greek foods will be available such as gyros, avgolemeno soup, souvlaki, spanakopita, moussaka, chicken and fish dinners, pastries and more.
Dasco said that all the food is made by volunteers from the church who have been participating in cooking and baking workshops since May.
“We always do this every time we have the event. We have these several months of workshops leading up to the event because we really don’t buy anything pre-made. We have already made the sweet breads, a lot of the cookies and we’ve also made spanakopita,” she said.
Since June, volunteers have made 150 trays of spanakopita, according to Dasco. She said that 9 inch by 11 inch trays of frozen, unbaked spanakopita are for sale and they are already going fast.
Despite the differences this year, Dasco said that the church still wanted to host the event to connect with the community.
“We think it’s important to the community to give them an outlet for another kind of cultural event. Usually, we have a lot of things going on like dancers, a live band and that kind of thing… This year we still think it’s important to keep the tradition alive to welcome our neighbors into our church and into our hall and to see that we’re still a vibrant community that enjoys celebrating our culture with our community,” she said.
Dasco said that she is also excited to be able to share the delicious, homemade food.
“It’s fun to share our culture through food and we’re proud that we have a reputation to have a really fine quality event and food,” she said.
Those interested in learning more about the Taste of Greece are encouraged to call 525-4551.