Show Hundreds gather to celebrate Greek heritage Dominique Snow V Contributing Writer Last weekend everyone was warmly welcomed or or oras as the Greeks would say Kalos to celebrate Utah's rich Greek lf ge aTme Annual Greek Festival e H Hell Hellenic Hellenic- nid Memorial Cultural Center and neighboring Holy Trinity Cathedral located at S. S W in Downtown Salt Lake City is home to the Utah's largest cultural festival The celebration lasts four days captivating crowds of up to Hundreds of volunteers come together to make this event possible were able to enjoy authentic Greek food dancing and shopping while learning about the well- well preserved Greek culture A portion of the proceeds was donated to various various' Utah charities including the Aids Foundation the American Cancer Society and Huntsman Cancer Center One of the parish volunteers Toni Mae Dwyer said The worlds world's diversity is a treasure So any experience we have that helps us understand something that we dont don't regularly live increases the possibility of peace in the world The year-old year Cathedral building was full of many treasures and plenty of knowledgeable volunteers who were willing willingto to answer any question asked The bui building inspired by Byzantine architecture is full of stunning stained glass encircling the iconic images of the Holy Trinity Utah has also been given the resource of the Hellenic Memorial Cultural Center The museum which was built in 1992 was Americas America's first authentic Hellenic Cultural Museum There one can view exhibits U w if I I- I Iz z tr j I IIi Ii IA J is j 4 S I IrY r rY L J J J. J 4 Photos by Dominique Snow The 2008 Dionysios Dance Group performing the dance Sunday at the Greek Festival of personal belongings of Utah's early Greek immigrants Traditionally dressed Greek dolls a gold winemaker and an early model of the electric Eureka Vacuum were all shown inthe inthe in the the- the museum There were plenty of options to choose from when it came to sampling Greek food Lambs roasted on spits greeted attendees as they entered The lines were long for festival favorites such as gyros and The aroma of roasted meat and rich spices encompassed the entire Festival area and beyond Many of those who were leaving the food tents had two to three plates of food a piece needless to say the food was good The Dionysios Dance group performs Greek folk dances around the country Maria Pappas one of the groups group's talented dancers said they look forward to the Utah Greek Festival all year long She has been beena a member of the group for nine years and this i is her favorite event to perform at The dances performed are unique and full of symbolism Each dance performed comes from froma a specific part of ancient Greece and is performed in traditional costumes One of the dances performed was called It is a fishermans fisherman's dance stemming from ancient Thrace According to the Greek festivals festival's program the name of the dance translates tes to Fishermen who are pulling their nets goer Elyse Timothy said she enjoys the Greek Festival because it is really fun to share your culture with everyone else The church hurch and its volunteers gladly opened up their doors to share their attend the Annual fascinating culture with Greek Festival held the Utah If you didn't attend same time next year this year make a note to |