Rain or Shine, Cranston's Greek Festival Takes Over Church of the Annunciation This Weekend

CRANSTON, RI—It started as a church picnic decades ago and now is one of the most anticipated summer festivals in the area, connecting thousands of people with Greek food and culture: Cranston's Greek Festival starts Friday at 5 p.m. at the Church of the Annunciation, 175 Oaklawn Ave.

Admission is free, and the event goes on rain or shine.

Friday's schedule runs from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the grounds open at noon. Saturday's events last until 10 p.m., and the festival wraps up at 9 p.m. Sunday.

According to the schedule, Asteria kicks off the musical entertainment at 5 p.m. followed by the Odyssey Dance Troupe at 7 p.m. Friday. Asteria returns on Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

Also, the dance troupe comes back for encore shows at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, along with the Hellenic Stars on Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. and Orfeas on Sunday from 4:30 to 9 p.m.

Besides all the Greek food and fun, the church will hold Orthodox services, starting with Paraklesis, at 6 p.m. Friday and Vespers at 6 on Saturday and Sunday.

Free shuttle buses leave from Cranston High West.

Along with baklava, gyro sandwiches, loukaniko, spanakopita and dolomades, there’s dancing, religious services every evening, tours of the historic orthodox church on Oaklawn Avenue, face painting, a bouncy house and more.

“Typically we estimate that 15,000 come out over the weekend,” said Paul Pliakas in 2014. He's a member of the Greek Festival Committee and one of the marching representatives. “It’s very well known in the Cranston community and it’s an established rite at the end of the summer.”

It’s a tradition for local families, regardless of religious affiliation, to come out and mingle at the festival. It’s seen as a bookend to summer in addition to a haven for Greek food.

The festival is put on by the Church of the Annunciation and the parish has about 600 families. The priest describes it as 3,000 souls, Pliakas said, and the Greek Orthodox Church has about 250 million followers around the globe.

It’s the second-largest Christian communion after the Catholic Church and its presence here dates back more than a century.

People are often surprised to learn that many of the priests in the orthodox church are married and have children. The church is steeped in an iconographic history. Its roots date to the great schism in 1054, which makes it a very old church and explains why the use of icons is so important.

“If you go in the church you see a lot of icons around the altar,” Pliakas said. “It’s how we tell stories, how we pass down our faith, especially before literacy was a big thing.”

You can see a printable menu and schedule by visiting the church’s Web site, but for an inside look at the festival and preparations, you should follow it on Facebook, where mouth-watering photos of pastries in the making and prior-year festivities will get your stomach growling.

There’s ample parking in the neighborhood, but a simpler way is to forget about finding the best spot and take advantage of shuttle buses that run regularly out of the Cranston High School West parking lot off Metropolitan Avenue.

Mark Schieldrop contributed to this article.

Photo: Patch File Photo