Port Jefferson Greek festival kicks off
A sign welcomes people to the Village of Port Jefferson. (March 22, 2011) Credit: Jasmin Frankel
The Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption will kick off its annual Greek Festival in Port Jefferson on Thursday. It will mark roughly the 50th time the festival has been held.
“It could be 48, it could be 49,” said Eirini Lampiri, church secretary. “No one is really sure how many years.”
The church is 51 years old this year and has been holding the festival for as long as anyone can remember, she said. The four-day event features Greek food prepared by church members and employees at local Greek restaurants, live music, traditional dancing, rides for children and what organizers call the biggest raffle on Long Island.
The first-place raffle prize is a 2012 Mercedes Benz GLK 4Matic, second- through sixth-places are also cars, the seventh-place prize is a 10-day trip for two to Greece, and other prizes include a laptop, flat-screen TV, designer handbag and paper shredder. A total of 270 prizes will be awarded. The winners of the raffles will be announced Sunday.
Each raffle ticket cost $100, and only 4,000 are printed. Last year, tickets were sold out. There is also a $2 entrance fee to the festival.
Lampiri said the church holds the festival as a continuation of the celebration of the feast of the Assumption on Aug. 15.
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