Pontians are known for their passion, strong work ethic, and joy of life. All three were on display on Saturday, January 4 when Pontians flocked to Rye Foreshore for their inaugural Akrothalassa (Seaside) Festival as a scorching heatwave gripped Melbourne, Victoria. Sweltering temperatures could not dampen the dancing, food feast, and overall enthusiasm.

Kostas Xanthopoulos, president of the Pontian Association of Whittlesea “Panagia Soumela,” spent Sunday back at the beach packing up. 

“Each year we have a small panigiri at the club, but one of our members suggested we do something different this year,” he said. 

“So we did! We haven’t yet counted the profits, but it doesn’t matter because for me, success is getting young people involved and our members engaged. We have five young people in our main committee and a women’s club. They were all there. That’s success.”

Artist and designer Olga Antoniadis, responsible for the event’s promotion, updated social media throughout the day. Her partner, Jacob, tirelessly worked behind the scenes. 

“My parents were actively involved in the community since they came to Australia, and I need to see that keep going,” she said, pointing out her mother who taught dancing to the community. 

“We don’t have our regions in Pontos anymore, so it is super important for us as Pontians to keep our traditions wherever we are. If we don’t, nobody else will.”

Last year, she visited Istanbul with her partner but dreams of travelling to the place of her heritage, Trapezounta. 

“I’d like to do it with someone who knows the area, perhaps with Myrofora Efstathiadou who wrote a book about it,” she said.

Her partner, from Florina, has joined Olga on her mission to keep alive the Pontian culture. 

“He is the most Pontian non-Pontian,” Olga joked.

Jacob’s mum, Stacey Jankovski, endorsed this. 

“We are here because of the joy Pontians bring through their openness, their warmth, and the fact that they are happy people,” she said, happy to have met the Pontian culture through her son’s relationship with Olga.

Seth Karaferis, a young man from Karditsa, came to the event to support his friend, 19-year-old Panagiotis Kazantzidis. 

“I love Panayiotis. He is Pontian and one of the best people I’ve met. That’s why I came today,” he said.

Panayiotis beamed. 

“I have pure, rich Pontian roots, and I am passionate about my culture. I help out at the club, and also dance with the Panagia Soumela group. We have a rich culture, and we should be proud of who we are. There may have been a Genocide, but it made us more determined to preserve our culture,” he said.

Several people present have Pontian tattoos, none more visible than those of Nicky Bousanidou who grew up in a Pontian-populated village in Kastoria. 

“We were all originally from Agios Antonios in Efxinos Pontos. Our place now has a Turkish name, but it hasn’t lost its Greek soul,” Nicky said.

During her visits to Pontos, Turkish people tell her that they feel sorry she has lost her home and blame politics. 

“I believe them. Your average Turk isn’t as bad as we think,” she said, adding she got to see this up close as her first husband was a Turkish man who lived in her neighbourhood when she came to Australia.

He fell in love with Nicky despite her Grecian-inspired Greek tattoos and passion for Pontos. There are coins dangling from her necklace, jiggling as she dances, a gift from her former mother-in-law. 

“We were born dancing, and we have filotimo,” she said of Pontians.

“Some Pontians are embarrassed because of Greeks creating Pontian jokes, but we should not be embarrassed. We should be proud to be Pontian.”

* Photos copyright The Greek Herald / Mary Sinanidis, unless specified elsewhere.