Local Greek Orthodox Church is set to celebrate their heritage through food, dance and fellowship with an annual festival this weekend.

Each Sept., St. George Orthodox Church, invites members of the Huntington community to their church for the annual Greek Festival.

The festival begins at 11 a.m. on Friday and will continue through the weekend.

Guests will have a variety of options to choose from, but typically the food is the festival’s main attraction.

There will be many different dishes to purchase including the traditional gyro. A gyro is a sandwich served on pita bread with vegetables and a cucumber and yogurt sauce known as tzatziki, and is typically made with lamb.

Other dishes include Greek seasoned fries, Greek meatballs, lamb and chicken dinners and grape leaves stuffed with meat, rice and hummus.

Desserts are a very large part of the festival and include a variety of treats like almond biscotti, pecan blossoms and nut rolls. Fan favorites, baklava and baklava sundaes will also be available.

A dessert variety box is also available for those who want to take a piece of Greek Fest home with them. The box includes several different Greek pastries from feniki, a honey and walnut cookie, to kourambiethe a powdered sugar coated butter cookie.

Soft drinks will be available for purchase at the festival. For those who wish to stay with the Grecian theme, Greek iced tea, Greek hot coffee, red and white wine and Mythos Grecian beer will also be available.

While not enjoying the food, guests can enjoy plenty of other activities.

Greek dance and music performances will take place throughout the weekend to give guests the opportunity to enjoy the sounds and steps of Greece. Demonstrations take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Those attending the festival are also invited to take a tour of the St. George Orthodox Church. The church was built in the 1940s and since then has served parishioners from all over the tri-state area. Church tours take place following the dance and music demonstrations.

Greek festival guests will also have the chance to shop through the gift shop for various Grecian items, church cookbooks, t-shirts and other souvenirs.

St. George Orthodox Church is located at 701 11th Avenue in Huntington. There is no charge for admission.

MacKenzi Kyle can be contacted at [email protected].