Are you ready to feast, look at fine art and learn about the region’s history?
There is a bounty of events happening on Saturday, Sept. 11, so residents will have many options on how to choose their day.
Events include Saint George Greek Festival, Little Italy Streetfest, Stockade Villager’s Art Show and Mabee Farm History Fair. The Greek festival is the longest event of the weekend, because it spans from Friday, Sept. 10, to Sunday, Sept. 12, while all the other events are only one day.
The Greek Festival takes place at the Hellenic Center, in Schenectady, which across from the Schenectady County Library. Besides food, the event features live music, folk dancing, arts and crafts, raffles and activities for children. There will also be guided tours of the church.
Everything at the festival is hand made by the community, said Evan Euripidou, chair of the Greek Festival. `It is countless hours and weeks of work.`
Early planning for the event take place in May and food is prepared a month in advance and frozen to accommodate patrons
`I think the biggest factor for everybody is pride,` said Euripidou. `It is a phenomenal opportunity for us to showcase our culture and religion and share that with the community. I don’t think there is a single Greek at the event that isn’t proud of their culture. It gives us great joy to see the thousands of people that come through the door and tell us how much they love this event.`
While some people might have their favorite food choices at the event, Euripidou said people should try something new, because they might be surprised.
`I think the one dish that most people tend to be a little more nervous about is the lamb shanks offered inside,` he said. `I’ve had people try that dish that said they hate lamb and can never eat and then love the dish and say it is unlike anything they have ever had.`
If you are in the mood for some Italian food, you can head over to the Little Italy Streetfest in Schenectady on North Jay Street from noon to 9 p.m. Sept. 11.
Seven restaurants are participating in the event and there will be strolling musicans, a stage to feature bands, `Italian Culture Tent,` crafts, homemade win contest and an Italian cookie baking contest.
`They’re real businesses, they’re real Italian people, this is their neighborhood and their inviting people in to enjoy their food,` said Maureen Gebert, organizer of the Little Italy Streetfest.
A special guest to the event is Gianni Russo, who played Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather, is set to make an appearance around 6 to 9 p.m. Gebert said Russo is attending the wine festival in Saratoga, so he decided to make at stop at the Italian festival.
If you get stuffed from eating all the food offered, you could head over to the Stockade Villager’s Outdoor Art Show, located near and around the statue of Lawrence the Indian statue in the stockade.
`It has been going for 59 years because the people involved and the hard work of keeping it going and the artists,` said Connie Colangelo, organizer of the art show. `The artists like this particular exhibit because the prizes are decent and it is only for artwork, there are no crafts in the show.`
There will be over 100 artists displaying and selling their work in the show. There is a variety of artwork form traditional to new forms digital media provides, said Colangelo. Also, over $1,500 in prizes will be given out to artists at the show. (
For more information read our story
Nothing but art
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Those who want to sit back and learn about history can stop over to the Mabee Farm in Rotterdam Junction for the History Fair titled `From War to Peace: Western Expansion in New York.`
There will be five speakers talking about a range of topics dealing with regional history. You can also bring items to be identified by an antique expert for $5, which will be donated to the farm. The event starts at 10 a.m. and goes to 4 p.m. on Sept. 11.“
