Braintree, MA Greek Festival This Weekend

Via Fred Hanson ~ The kitchen has been a beehive of activity at St. Catherine’s Greek Orthodox Church for months.

It has to be. The church is expecting to serve lunch and dinner to several thousand people over four days during its 8th Annual Grecian Festival Thursday through Sunday at the church, 119 Common Street, Braintree, MA.

“We served about 7,000 people last year, and hopefully we’ll serve a few more this year,” said Demetrios Seremetis, the vice president of the church council.

Mina Demestihas of Canton is one of the members of the kitchen crew.

“We’ve made 50 pans of pastitsio and moussaka, 52 trays of spinach pie, 3,400 dolmathes,” she said.

Seremetis added, “Our biggest seller is the baked lamb, Greek style.”

And if supplies run low, the cooks are ready to return to the kitchen to whip up more, he said.

“Everything is homemade, and everything is made right here,” Seremetis said.

Then there are the desserts, including 30 trays of baklava.

Six to eight people have been putting in full work days in the kitchen since mid-June to get ready for the festival. On Monday, more than 40 people were on hand to help out with final preparations.

“We enjoy each other,” Demestihas said. “It’s like an assembly line when we cook.”

There’s more than just food at the festival. There will be Greek bands Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Greek dancing, craft vendors, a variety of items in “yia-yia’s (grandma’s)” attic and children’s games.

Seremetis said the festival is a major fundraiser for the church, which serves 350 families from Quincy and Braintree to as far away as Norwood and Hingham.

The congregation has been “increasing every year” since the church moved from its original home in Wollaston to Braintree in 2004, he said.

Money will go to fund church programs as well as the building project.

“If you don’t come, you’re missing a really good time and some really good food,” Seremetis said.

Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. Admission and parking are free.