Each year the small congregation of about 100 families puts on a festival of epic proportions. The purpose of the festival is to raise funds for the church and help introduce and perpetuate Greek Culture in Hawaii.

Come to the Greek Festival at McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana Park and you’ll see why thousands of people of all ethnic backgrounds show up each year.

Enjoy the music, dancing, food, and culture and be Greek for a day…or two!

THE GREEK FISHERMAN HAT

You have seen them in many different settings worn by many different types of people. The Greek Fisherman Hat is a classic made famous by Anthony Quinn and later by John Lennon. The first Greek fisherman hat dates back to 1886 in Athens, Greece.

Often associated with seamanship, the Greek Fisherman Hat has become a part of the uniforms of many sea captains and seamen. Much more than a cap, it has a visor instead of an encircling brim and sports a loosely peaked crown. A braid between the visor and the crown distinguishes the more traditional fisherman’s hat.

One thing is for sure, it’s hard to find an authentic Greek Fisherman Hat especially in Honolulu. The “real deal” should be made of dark wool, although newer designs consist of cotton in various colors.

Find many different styles and colors at the Honolulu Greek Festival, August 25^th and 26^th at McCoy pavilion in Ala Moana Park. Sizes range from 6¾ to size 8 and all are made imported from Greece.

Get there early for best selection.

Greek cooking dates back thousands of years, yielding an incredibly rich and diverse array of foods. While fresh and inviting, Greek meals also give one a glimpse back in time, into the history of Greece.

Like the Greek religion, over time little has changed. The Greek diet of bread, olives (olive oil), cheeses, and wine remain the staples.

Greece has a collection of small farms that produce a wide variety of mainly organic offerings of these oils, fruits, cheeses, nuts, grains, legumes, and vegetables. These are the foods that form the basis of Greek cooking and provide variety and nutrition.

The temperate climate of Greece is very conducive for growing olive and lemon trees, two of the most important elements of Greek Cooking. Spices, garlic and other herbs such as oregano, basil, mint, and thyme are widely used, as are vegetables such as eggplant and zucchini and legumes of all types.

20 percent of Greece is made up of islands. And with no part of the Greek mainland more than 90 miles from the sea, fish and seafood are also common in the Greek diet. Lamb and goat (kid) are the traditional meats of holidays and festivals, and poultry, beef, and pork are also in plentiful supply.

Greece is also known for fine wines and spirits most notably ouzo, an anise-flavored liqueur that is the national spirit. Grapes grow in abundance in the hilly terrain.

Living in Hawaii we are all familiar with Pacific Fusion- the blending of our island cuisine with others like Japanese and Chinese. Greek cooking has also been influenced by other cultures, and one could say the fusion started there as it can be easily traced back to 350 B.C. Alexander the Great extended the Greek Empire’s reach from Europe to India and certain northern and eastern influences were absorbed into the Greek cuisine.

In 146 B.C., Greece fell to the Romans which resulted in a blending of a Roman influence into Greek cooking and in 330 A.D., Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople, founding the Byzantine Empire which, in turn, fell to the Turks in 1453 and remained part of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 400 years.
During that time, dishes had to be known by Turkish names, names that remain today for many Greek classics.

With each successive invasion and settlement came culinary influences – Dishes with names like tzatziki (from the Turkish “cacik”), hummus (the Arabic word for chickpea) and dolmades (from the Turkish “dolma”), can be found in kitchens from Armenia to Egypt. They have also found a home in Greek cooking, and been adapted over hundreds of years to local tastes and traditions.

And during those times, the classic elements of Greek cuisine traveled across borders as well, adopted and adapted in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and … with Alexander the Great, farther east.

The first cookbook was written by the Greek food gourmet, Archestratos, in 330 B.C., which suggests that cooking has always been of importance and significance in Greek society.

Modern chefs owe the tradition of their tall, white chef’s hat to the Greeks. In the middle ages, monastic brothers who prepared food in the Greek Orthodox monasteries wore tall white hats to distinguish their work from the regular monks, who wore large black hats.

Greek food is simple and yet elegant, with flavors subtle to robust and textures smooth to crunchy. It remains fresh and timeless, nutritious and healthy. Preparing and enjoying Greek food, anywhere in the world, is an adventurous journey into the cradle of civilization and the land of the Gods of Olympus. Discovering, tasting, and experiencing Greek food: truly one of the joys we can all share.

We invite you to sample some of the best Greek food in Hawaii at the Greek Festival.

On the one hand, the Orthodox Church is is the oldest church in Christendom. On the other hand it is new to most people in America.

It is the second largest body of Christendom with 300 million people worldwide. But in the U.S. and Canada there are less than two million.

While many Protestant denominations struggle to replace members who exit, Orthodox Churches in America have grown by nearly 18% in recent years.

The Orthodox Church is the remnant of the original, undivided Christian Church. The church was founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and is described in the pages of the New Testament. Her history can be traced in unbroken continuity all the way back to Christ and His Twelve Apostles.

Incredible as it seems, for over twenty centuries she has continued in her undiminished and unaltered faith and practice. Today her apostolic doctrine, worship, and structure remain intact. The Orthodox Church maintains that the Church is the living Body of Jesus Christ.

Many of us are surprised to learn that for the first 1,000 years of Christian history there was just one Church. It was in the eleventh century that a disastrous split occurred between Orthodox East and Latin West. Although it had been brewing for for years, the so-called “Great Schism” of 1054 represented a formal – and shocking – separation between Rome and Orthodoxy. At the core of the controversy were two vitally important areas of disagreement: the role of the papacy, and the manner in which doctrine is to be interpreted.

Following the Great Schism, the Western Church has seen repeated schisms, beginning with the Protestant Reformation. By contrast, Eastern Orthodox Church have remained united in faith, through a loose “federation” of Churches, with the Patriarch of Constantinople (Istanbul) as its spokesman to the world.

For more information on the Orthodox Church stop by the outreach booth at the festival or call Father John Kuehnle at (808) 521-7220

Greece is known to have one of the richest folk traditions in the world. Hundreds of documented dances, lyrics that go back to ancient roots, musical instruments that reflect geography, and garments that showcase skillful handiwork create an abundant collage reflecting the Greek—his life, his beliefs, his story. One could say that no anthropological study of Greece is complete without acknowledging music, song, and dance as an integral part of being Greek.

With zealous fervor, Greeks in Greece uphold their folk traditions even today, and with a hungry passion for the motherland, Greeks in the diasporas preserve these traditions as if their very survival depended on it. This is not surprising, for music, song, and dance feed the Greek psyche in a most intriguing way. Most often one may witness these traditions around significant times in life: weddings, betrothals, baptisms, days honoring patron saints, and other festivities, but other times an intimate, spontaneous get together with family and friends can be a reason to get up and dance. If the feeling is there, the singing and dancing will follow.

It all begins with kefi. Kefi, the word that describes the feeling that overcomes the participant in a given celebration, has no exact translation in English beyond being in a good mood or in high spirits, but these definitions fail to express the word’s genuine meaning. Kefi may be considered a prelude to singing and dancing, a requirement to participation in many ways. If the Greek does not feel kefi, he just will not participate in the festivities, for participation without kefi is understood to being contrived, forced, even superficial. Thus, when a Greek gets up to dance or jumps in to sing a verse in a song, one can be certain that he is participating with all his heart and what he expresses is real.

Musical tunes in Greece can be meant for singing around a table of friends or for dancing. The tunes even allow for the poet in each participant to come through with the option to create spontaneous verses that fit the melody. They sing of life, love gained, love lost; they poke fun with their verses and even curse at their misfortunes if the social climate and audience is right. This vehicle of expression is exceptionally flexible, which has allowed it to evolve with the Greek people over generations. Likewise, the musical instruments have paralleled this evolution with choices like the lyra, laouto, tsambouna, violin, santouri, and more. Regions of Greece favor certain instruments over others, not merely as preference, but as a result of how the region has been affected in history and influenced over time, its geography, its depth, and its richness. You can see the beauty and diversity of Greece through its dances: the power of Pentozali from Crete, the boldness of Tsamiko from the Peloponese, the grace of a Ballos from one of the many islands or the passion of Hasapiko that one may see in a local taverna in Athens.

Greeks understand music, not necessarily with the knowledge of a formally educated musician, but on an emotional level. One who feels the kefi to dance first identifies the tune, the circle gathers, and one takes the lead. Highly democratic, the Greeks take turns in the lead, and oftentimes in some villages, the dance does not finish until all or most dancers have taken the lead.  All dancers in the circle understand their respective relationship to one another, promoting a oneness in the dance and a synchronization that goes beyond the steps. Moreover, the leader understands when in the music it is appropriate to embellish the steps. The embellishments are never choreographed or presumptuous; they are soulful, spontaneous, in the moment. Whether it is a circle dance of men, women or both, couple dances or other variation, the Greek observes a kind of etiquette while in the dance that allows him to express himself within the boundaries of a given dance. From one perspective, the village has come to define a given dance where one village may dance the same dance slightly differently. From another perspective, the festivity defines the dance. Thus, context in the form of location, celebration, participants and more governs how dances come to life.

The handmade garments worn only in isolated places today visually encapsulate the wealth of Greek culture. The variety in costumes overwhelms the eye with colors that reflect the entire spectrum, fabrics of all kinds, needlework, beading, and diverse designs. A guide is usually the weather of a given region: high, mountainous regions prefer woolens and darker colors while coastal regions and islands prefer lighter colors and silken fabrics. Regardless of the location, however, the garment will always reflect the amazing handiwork of the women with skills that go back generations.

Greek folk culture is among the Greeks’ many prized inheritances. Its preservation is vital to being Greek.  Come to the Greek Festival, and see our own Nisiotes Dancers perform or better yet join the dancing circle and hold hands with the Greeks.  While dancing, be sure to shout out the expression that communicates joy and celebrates life: OPA!

The earliest mention of worry beads came from India. Made of a series of fruit pits, punctured and stringed on a piece of string, they were used to count prayers. In time, the fruit pits were replaced by amber, ivory, coral, semiprecious stones, or other stones and noble metals. A tassel and a “papas” (the bead that marks the beginning and end of its cycle) were eventually added. Worry beads were embellished and in time became “works of art.” Soon they evolved into a collectable that became a symbol of wealth, prestige, power and culture.

The Greek word for worry beads is kompoloi and was first introduced by the Turks. From the Turks it became popular, as an accessory at the hands of the dignitaries and sovereigns, as symbol of force, wealth and power. Soon kompolois became popular among the common people as means for meditation and companion in lounging and to calm the pain.

Kompoloi became again popular with the development of tourism in Greece. While they were viewed as an important element of Greek culture and tradition, they also became a souvenir sold to tourists. During this period kompoloi started being manufactured out of plastics, metals, or machine made silver platted beads and had nothing to do with the jewel of superior aesthetics and a symbol of wealth, power, freedom and prestige that used to be in the past.

The world has become exhausting with stress, shopping, drinking, smoking, depression and antidepressant drugs become a way of life. Kompoloi may offer the solutions because kompoloi are:

- a way of giving up bad habits, such as smoking, nervousness or comfort eating, or biting our nails;
- a jewel, when it is strung with valuable beads made of amber, semi-precious stones or precious metals;
- a remedy, when it is made of semiprecious stones, which radiate a health-enhancing energy;
- a piece of art, when it is designed with high standards of aesthetics;
- a collector’s item, as it can be rare, beautiful, and precious;
- a symbol of strength, power, when it is artistic and precious;
- an amulet, when it contains symbols of our beliefs and good luck;
- a psychotherapist, because the massage to our fingers can relax our neural system;
- a home decorative for our the furniture, table and the walls;
- a joy for our senses, with its purling beads, silken touch, vibrant colours, and the magical scent of amber and aromatic wood;
- our personal trainer, because we can use it to train our fingers’ skills.
- a heirloom, redolent of our forebears’ lives and the tales they told, and bearing the story of our own lives forward to generations to come;
- a medium between man and God, because it can be used as a rosary to count prayers
- a symbol of wealth; it points out that we have plenty of free time;
- a reflection of our personality, as it reflects our ego, in the same way as our car or our house does

In other words…. “show me your worry beads and I’ll show you who you are”. Kompoloi are no longer a fashion fad: they are a necessity!

Find your Kompoli at the Greek Imports Booth at the Greek Festival and watch your stress melt away. Opa!

How to Use Worry Beads

1. The standard way to use worry beads is to start by either holding the worry beads at one end or at the center of the beads (as shown). Drape the worry beads over your middle finger.
   2. Swing the worry beads back towards your arm and then swing them forward so that one end flips over your hand.
   3. Swing the worry beads upward and over your index finger.
   4. Have the worry beads land top of your hand, then flip them back to the position in figure 1.Repeat steps 1-4.Some Greeks use worry beads in other ways besides the steps outlined above, just like people handle stress in various ways. The act of focusing on the motion or feel of the worry beads is what relaxes one’s mind