Greek Festival

At the beginning of October, my friend Julia and I got to attend the Greek Festival in Oklahoma City. While this was not an official OU event, there were many OU people who participated, such as my friend Margo Gianos: she performed in some of the dances, and her family sold food and were sponsors. We also ran into many OU students who had come out to participate, including my friend Mikita as well as some musical theatre majors who lived on my floor my freshman year. This event was 25 minutes away from Norman, but our community was interested in learning about another culture, and so many people went out and supported.

I had been to this event once before, in high school, but it was a very different experience this time around. Julia, with whom I attended the event, studied abroad in Greece this past spring. She brought a new perspective to the event. For her, it felt like being back in Greece — like going home, to a place where you belong. I know that I would love to go to anything Scottish to feel the same way after my study abroad experience; being able to recreate that feeling of being somewhere where you lived for months, something that is special to you and something that you are so proud of yourself for accomplishing, is something that I cannot see anyone who had studied abroad ever giving the opportunity up.

We stayed at the Greek Festival for the whole afternoon, and we filled that time listening to Greek music, watching Greek dances, and eating Greek food. There was live music with Greek musicians, and they would play constantly (with some breaks) classic Greek dance songs as different age groups would get up and dance. There was a children group that dressed in traditional Greek clothing, and they had fun as they did what of the dance they could. There was also a time where they would invite all the children at the festival up on the stage to do the Chicken Dance so the kids there could be more included.

After the children, there were a few more groups, with the level of difficulty getting more advanced each time. Our friend Margo was in the most advanced group, and it was cool to watch traditional Greece dances. One of the songs that they danced to, Zorba the Greek, has been trending on TikTok recently, and I love that I now know that and recognize it. You can listen to it here.

The last thing we did was try some Greek food. I tried a gyro for the first time, and while there is a place where I serve gyros near where I work, I love that the first time I tried it it was at an authentic Greek place. Next time I’m at a Greek restaurant, I know what I will be ordering.

Julia and I also bought a frozen snack that I had wished they were serving fresh there, but it was fun to take a part of it home with us. It was called a Spanakopita, and it was like a pastry crust on the outside that was then filled with spinach and cheese. We actually made it and ate it just this week, and now I’m trying to figure out where to buy some more — I did not realize that I would like Greek food as much as I did.

I am grateful for this Greek Festival that allowed OU students to connect with their heritage, and I love that I was able to go to it with Julia to learn more about the community and just see how our community is filled with so many different types of people. I love learning about different cultures, and I loved that so many other people there did too! I will definitely be attending again, and I can’t wait to go to more international events throughout the year to see our global community come together.