The annual celebration of Greek culture; Greek Fest

Chelsey Stanley, Reporter|October 1, 2018

The annual Greek Festival kicked off the fall season at the St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Huntington, West Virginia, Sept. 28. The three day event celebrated Greek culture, art and music.

Lambros Svingos has participated in the Greek festival for the past 25 years. The Svingos family are the owners of Victor’s Cleaners, one of the oldest family businesses in Huntington. The Svingos bloodline reaches back to their great grandparents who traveled from Sparta, Greece, in 1912 on the RMS Olympic, Svingos said.

Svingos said he began dancing at age three, where he helped his family in every aspect of the festival until he began running the gift shop with his father Aristotle in 2013.

“Our heritage is so rich in tradition and culture, I truly love sharing that with people and expressing my massive amounts of love for the simple things in life, like food and dancing,” Lambros said.

Svingos then took over the family business after the death of his father last year and continued their legacy by returning to the Greek Festival with their family gift shop. He dedicated their Greek gift shop to the memory of his father, his dedication to the church and the Greek festival by renaming it Aristotle’s Gift Shop.

“The Greek festival is an opportune moment for those wanting to learn more about Greek culture and heritage, while also bringing the community together in a fun and exciting way,” Father Mark Elliot, the priest of the St. George Orthodox Church, said.

Luke Hammond, University of Rio Grande senior, attended the Greek festival for the third year in a row.

“I first came to the Greek festival a few years ago with a friend of mine who was Greek,” Hamond said. “I never really realized how much actually went into it before, the preparation and time these people put into expressing their own culture in a way that others could experience it, even without having any Greek background at all. The food was awesome, and the music was something unique that I hadn’t really appreciated before. I’ve returned every year since for the Greek coffee and gyros.”

“It is so humbling to be a part of something like this every year,” Svingos said. “It brings the people together, Greek or not, in a place where everyone can enjoy Greek foods, music and dancing, and ultimately experience our culture and what it means to be Greek.”