Charleston Greek Festival returns for 52nd year, with food and dancing on the menu (2024)

Charleston’s largestfood festival takes place in March, but its oldest doesn’t come around each year until mid-May.

That would be the Charleston Greek Festival, set to take place for the 52nd time May 12-14 at downtown Charleston’s Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

Holy Trinity dates to 1908, when the first Greek Orthodox service was held in Charleston at an Episcopal church.

Parishioner Michael Wade is helping lead the event as co-chair. His aunt and uncle Effie and Tom Meletis have been involved in the organization of the festival for nearly two decades.

The 2023 festival will bring dozens of food vendors to the church’s 30 Race St. home, with gyros, moussaka, pastit*io and an assortment of Greek pastries, beer and wine on the menu.

The entrance fee is $5 for adults, and food is available for purchase from each individual vendor.

Food preparation began in mid-March, said Wade, whose grandparents were born in Greece and attended the festival during its first decade, from 1970-1980. People loved the food then, Wade was told, and they are just as enthusiastic today.

“It’s definitely a part of the community,” Wade said. “It’s a very rich heritage in Charleston with the Greeks.”

The Charleston Greek Festival was canceled in 2020 and hosted a drive-thru event in 2021 due to COVID. It returned to full scale in 2022 eight months after the opening of the new Hellenic Building and Trinity Hall, a two-story, 26,000-square-foot facility that replaced an aging 1941 structure.

The new building is equipped with a library, youth ministry room, Sunday School classrooms, administrative offices and a hall capable of seating 350 people. The brick structure complements the adjacent sanctuary, a historic Byzantine-style building noted for its ornamental domes.

According to Wade, organizers plan to use the extra space in the Hellenic Building and Trinity Hall more effectively than last year. A map guiding guests through the venue will be available onlineahead of the event, which will feature dancing and other activities celebrating Greek culture.

Ten percent of the festival's proceeds are donated to various charities the church supports. For more information, visit charlestongreekfestival.com.