Opa!
That word often signals the arrival of your order of flaming cheese at the local Coney, but here in the Detroit area, it signals the arrival of the largest ongoing festival celebrating Greek art, song, dance and culture in our metropolitan area.
We’ve trekked up to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in suburban Troy each year for the annual Opa! Fest after I initially discovered the event by spotting a roadside sign. This year’s Opa! Fest takes place June 26-28.
Great Greek food, prepared by an army of elderly Greek ladies and their assistants, is on the menu—but only if you arrive early enough in the day before the food runs low! The bakery stand is so popular with folks stocking up on homemade pastries and crusty bread to take home that it’s best to make your purchases early, take them home and come back to the festival later in the day to enjoy the entertainment.
Make time to check out the beautiful church and unique religious art at St. Nicholas, which is open for visitors wanting to spend a little quiet time during the hectic festival.
Kids’ dance groups usually start off each day’s program. The youngest dancers go first, and they often stick around to watch as the progressively older and more skilled dancers follow them onstage.
Opa! Fest usually schedules plenty of local talent to entertain the crowds, but organizers occasionally book a bigger name act.
Imagine being able to say you saw a Tony-award nominee perform at the festival in the St. Nicholas parking lot! Two years ago, we saw Constantine Maroulis, the sixth-place finalist from the fourth season of American Idol and current star of the Broadway smash Rock of Ages on the Opa! Fest stage.
Find out more about this year's event by reading my recent article about Opa! Fest at The Urbane Life.
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.
© Dominique King 2009
Just give me some Kalamata olives and feta cheese and I'm happy. This fest sounds like a lot of fun. "Opa" was actually a phrase I head a lot when I was in Myrtle Beach. The tourist area attracts a lot of foreign workers and it seems the people that were urging us to play carnival games were mostly Greek.
Posted by: Fly Girl | June 19, 2009 at 09:24 AM
My husband lived in Greece for a short time and he loves Greek food. We'll have to plan to get there early, before the food runs out!
Posted by: Becks Davis | June 19, 2009 at 12:43 PM
Wow, Looks like this was a blast! No wonder it is hard to stay thin here! LOL
Posted by: Eric Brown | June 20, 2009 at 07:14 AM
Gotta love the "Opa", I could go around saying that all day, and probably annoy everyone around me. Great photo of the church.
Posted by: Carolina | June 20, 2009 at 10:14 PM
Sounds like quite a big event and a lot fun! It's interesting to visit a place with local festival happening. :)
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Posted by: Jean - OurExplorer Tour Guide | June 21, 2009 at 02:18 AM
FlyGirl-The food was the original reason we went to the fest--I'm a big stuff grape leaves and Feta fan.
The way I understand it, "Opa!" is just a general exclamation with no real meaning-so it would be completely in character for the Greek carnival workers to use it I'd guess.
Becks-Oh, yes! You and Andy should plan to go to this festival. It's fun, and the price is right! Going early for the food, and coming back later in the day for the entertainment is always an option, too.
Eric-That's why I suggest coming back later in the day when the older dancers take the stage...and encourage the audience to join in!
Carolina-The church really is beautiful, and most people don't seem to make the trip down the hall to see it. Last year, they had a nice display that explained the history and culture of the Greek Orthodox Church--fascinating if you don't know much about the religion and its history.
Jean-We love local fests, and church festivals like this are especially great for tasting the local flavor (usually literally and figuratively) of a place. I'd often passed this particular church in my travels around town and discovered the festival when I saw a small roadside sign advertising it before the event a few years ago. Checked out the Web site and decided it sounded like fun. We've gone to Opa! Fest for several years now.
Posted by: Dominique | June 21, 2009 at 06:29 AM
This looks like so much fun! Amazing that a church festival is so elaborate. We used to have one in downtown Santa Cruz, but it was a little more low key. Just lots of yummy food.
Posted by: Bridget Smith | June 21, 2009 at 10:18 PM
I have fun and fond memories of my first Greek festival. Thanks for pointing this out, as I need to look up our nearest one this year and be sure to attend!
Posted by: Lorraine | June 22, 2009 at 09:55 PM
Bridget-This festival draws 11,000 people over three days! They obviously want to grow the fest with the big-name talent. We're looking forward to going this Saturday.
Lorraine-We have a lot of fun at Opa!Fest. Hopefully you'll be able to fine a Greek festival in your area :)
Posted by: Dominique | June 25, 2009 at 10:29 PM