By Martina Simos
A simple idea of gathering the local Greek community on the grounds of a church in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia has grown in popularity, attracting a new generation of Greek Australians.
This year was, by far, the largest crowd in the history of the Norwood Greek Festival.
On a perfect summer evening, more than 4,000 people of different ages came along to enjoy Greek food and entertainment at the Parish of the Prophet Elias Norwood in Adelaide.
The idea of a Greek festival based on the traditional ‘Paniyiria’ of Greece was initiated in 2011 by the former parish priest Father Stavros Psaromatis, with the support of his family.
The official guests at this year’s festival included: Bishop Silouan of Sinope; Federal Member for Adelaide, Steve Georganas MP; Federal Member for Sturt, James Stevens MP; SA Minister for Transport, Tom Koutsantonis MP representing the SA Premier Peter Malinauskas; the Leader of the Opposition, David Spiers MP; SA Minister for the Arts, Andrea Michaels MP; SA Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Zoe Bettison; Connie Bonaros; Member for Bragg, Jack Batty MP; Consul General of Greece in Adelaide, George Psiachas; City of Norwood Mayor Robert Bria; Chair of the SA Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission, Adriana Christopoulos; and President of the Greek Orthodox Community and Parish of Prophet Elias Norwood and Eastern suburbs, George Morias.
The official guests who gave a speech included: Bishop Silouan, Mr Koutsantonis, Mr Spiers, Mr Psiachas, Mayor Bria and Mr Morias.
In his speech, Mr Morias acknowledged Father Stavros, who began the ‘humble’ event, while thanking the current parish priest Father John Choraitis for his support.
He also praised the efforts of the ‘hard-working’ volunteers, the sub-committee, the Philoptochos, the SA Premier, sponsors and the Executive Council.
“It was the vision of The Very Reverend Fr Stavros Psaromatis to establish a Greek festival, more in line with the traditional ‘Paniyiria’ of Greece, hosted on the grounds of their local Church where people visit the church, open a candle, venerate the icons and then join the festival,” Mr Morias said to the crowd.
“The aim of the festival is to showcase our Greek Orthodox traditions and customs whilst still embracing multiculturism.
“We have in excess of 100 volunteers helping at this festival ranging in age from 15 years to volunteers in their eighties.”
On the night, the attendees enjoyed different cultural dance performances and music entertainment from the Slavo-Ukrainian Cultural Dance Group, the Cretan Dance Group and the Messinian Dance Group, the Norwood Greek School Dance Group, the band Kosmos and Michael Papacharalambous on clarinet.
This year’s event was supported by the South Australian Government, Department of Premier and Cabinet, and Mr Morias acknowledged their pledge of $75,000 to assist with the festival over the next three years starting in 2024.
On the night, Minister Koutsantonis pledged a further $36,000 to the church for security cameras and lighting.
“We also thank the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Zoe Bettison MP for the $5,000 support under the Celebrate Together program,” Mr Morias said.
