Pictured is the Yassou Festival in Jamestown, which provides the community with the opportunity to celebrate and participate in Greek culture. This year’s Yassou Festival will take place June 16 and 17.
P-J file photo
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is preparing to host its 39th annual Yassou Festival in Jamestown.
The Yassou Festival will take place at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at the corner of Mount Vernon Place and Francis Street. This year’s event is scheduled to take place Friday, June 16, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and June 17 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Alexis Singleton, spokeswoman for St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, said the festival will take place “rain or shine” under the big tent.
“It’s really the kickoff to summer,” Singleton said. “It’s an annual meet and greet that I think people look forward to attending because they get to see people they haven’t seen all winter. That, combined with live music in an outdoor venue, is special.”
While Singleton said people can expect the return of classic favorites at the Yassou Festival, she said the 39th Yassou Festival will feature an “elevated quality” of food. With some “slight changes” in this year’s menu, Singleton said St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is hoping to put out “an even better offering” of food than usual. One of the new featured desserts will be Loukoumades Sundae.
In addition to the elevated quality of food for this year’s Yassou Festival, attendees will now be able to use credit cards at the event. Additionally, the festival will now feature two admission tables to reduce the time participants will be required to wait in line prior to entering the festival.
“We’ll have better line management than ever before, so we hope that things will move even quicker than they ever have,” Singleton said. “We have a new website (www.YassouFestival.com) that will allow people to view the menu using a QR code while they are in line, so that when they get up to the order menu, they know what they want.”
Asked about the importance of the festival for St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Singleton explained that the Yassou Festival is the “primary operating fundraiser” for the church. While the church hosts other fundraisers throughout the year for charitable endeavors, Singleton said the church depends on the festival to help keep the doors open throughout the year and a full-time priest at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.
Singleton said the interaction with the community during the Yassou Festival is essential for St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.
“We are such a small community, and we feel that we have a place here in the community,” she said. “There is a sense of belonging and also hospitality, throwing a community that the whole community looks forward to. It’s in no way, a religiously or denominationally exclusive party; it is for everybody, and we value that. We hold that dear as part of our role. There is a reason why people come back year after year after year and look forward to it.
According to Singleton, the Yassou Festival provides opportunities for everyone in the community to enjoy the event. With a “big loud party” under the main tent, a quieter and more relaxed atmosphere outside the main tent and opportunities for community members to tour the church and enjoy the architectural beauty of the church, Singleton described the church and the Yassou Festival as a “pretty neat little oasis” in the heart of Jamestown.
Singleton told The Post-Journal that culture is “front and center” at the Yassou Festival.
“We’re very much about that Greek cuisine and that sense of welcoming the stranger,” she said. “The word filoxenia in Greek goes back to that Greek hospitality, that welcoming to our neighbors who we may not know and those who we do. That’s a cultural value that we visit and revisit.”
According to Singleton, the Yassou Festival is a “great family-friendly event,” for the entire community to enjoy. With multiple activities for kids to participate in, such as airbrush tattoos and balloon animals, dancing and a live band, Singleton said kids “seem to love it” each year.
“It’s not like a cultural history center that’s just like look at a lot of stuff and walk quietly around; this is a fun place that’s completely fenced in, so the kids can kind of run wild, which I think parents enjoy and appreciate,” she said.
With an annual attendance of roughly 3,000 people, Singleton said St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is hoping for a similar turnout this year despite a few competing events.
This year’s Yassou Festival will feature live Bouzouki music and dancing, with shows available June 16 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., as well as June 17 at 12 p.m., 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tours of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church will be available both days of the festival at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Other activities at the Yassou Festival include a Greek boutique and religious goods, a Greek grocery, traditional Greek food and pastries, George’s famous Greek hot dogs, a raffle with cash prizes, Greek beer and wine, balloon art and air-brush tattoos.
Admission for the Yassou Festival is $3.00 per person. Children under the age of 12 can attend the event for free. Additional details for the event are available online at www.YassouFestival.com.
“We really have a good time; we throw a good party,” Singleton said. “We want people to visit and really have a good time. It’s really about that experience, just a friendly, easy atmosphere. You come as you are and leave when you want.”
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