Ogden Greek Food Festival is coming back, but it’s getting smaller than before | News, sports, jobs
From the left at the long table, Angeliki Bolos, Maria Soter and James Soderquist are preparing dolmathe for the Ogden Greek Food Festival on Friday, September 17, 2021, which is for the 24th Ogden.
Doris Greenleigh, right, prepares dolmathes for the Ogden Greek Food Festival on Friday, September 17, 2021, scheduled for September 24 and 25, 2021 at the Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in South Ogden.
This photo was taken on Friday September 17, 2021 and shows some of the initially frozen food that will be served at the Ogden Greek Food Festival on September 24 and 25, 2021 at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration in south Ogden.
Tim Vandenack, standard auditor
From the left at the long table, Angeliki Bolos, Maria Soter and James Soderquist are preparing dolmathe for the Ogden Greek Food Festival on Friday, September 17, 2021, which is for the 24th Ogden.
SOUTH OGDEN – This round it gets smaller and there won’t be as much choice of food.
After a hiatus last year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ogden Greek Food Festival – which has fed thousands in previous incarnations – is returning.
“It’s exciting. It’s not a full menu, but it was fun,” said Kim Jones, who last week helped prepare dolmathes, a hamburger mix in grape leaves that is a Greek staple.
The food festival is the Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church’s premier fundraiser at 674 42nd St. in South Ogden, and church members have been preparing food for the past month and a half or so. The actual event is scheduled for Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. or as long as there is food left.
Although the festival is returning, it won’t be like it was before the pandemic. In particular, there will only be take away and there will only be three dinners, no a la carte options as in previous years. The aim is to limit the time people spend in church getting their food in the face of the ongoing threat from the COVID-19 virus.
Tim Vandenack, standard auditor
Doris Greenleigh, right, prepares dolmathes for the Ogden Greek Food Festival on Friday, September 17, 2021, scheduled for September 24 and 25, 2021 at the Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in South Ogden.
“Hopefully we won’t be known as super-spreaders,” said Drew Wilson, co-chair of the Food Festival. In addition, only 5,000 meals are prepared. In the past few years, the event had served up to 10,000 people.
Nonetheless, church members are delighted with the festival, which started out small in the 1960s as a cake shop and grew into the huge food festival that it has become. Many of them gathered last Friday to prepare the dolmathe. Other things are already prepared and waiting in the church freezers for the feast.
The draw for the event, said Wilson, is the food – authentic and homemade. “It’s that good. Ours is 100% made here,” he said.
But the event also provides an opportunity to see some of the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church. Traditional dancers will perform while festival goers wait for their food.
In recent years, some guests waited in line for up to two hours with minimal discomfort, Wilson said. Depending on how this year’s revised food festival goes, church members can keep the format in the future.
Tim Vandenack, standard auditor
This photo was taken on Friday September 17, 2021 and shows some of the initially frozen food that will be served at the Ogden Greek Food Festival on September 24 and 25, 2021 at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration in south Ogden.
The event typically brings in around $ 100,000 and is the main source of income for the church.
The three options for dinner are souvlaki, gyros, and vegan dinner, each with a side dish. There will also be pastry options.
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