SPOKANE, Washington – Greek food festivals are a tradition around the United States but none has been running as long as that held by the Holy Trinity Greek Church in Spokane, Washington which just celebrated its 87th year – with more to come.

It began in 1935 and except for the COVID-19 pandemic causing a cancellation in 2020 would have had an unbroken streak of giving parishioners and festival goers the desired plates of Greek food, along with cultural events.

“I can’t put into words what it means for our parish to be able to share our deep faith and cultural roots with the Spokane community, whether you’ve been joining us for decades or it’s your first time experiencing this time-honored tradition,” Rev. Father Daniel Triant told the news site Inlander.

Parishioners met in February to begin planning this year’s festival and started preparing food in June, a group of 10 women gathering in the basement of the church to make kourambiedes, Greek almond cookies doused in powdered sugar.

“People come and say, ‘We love Greek Fest because we just sit and talk to people we’ve never spoken to before,” Father Triant said.