Greek Fest

I remember going to this festival when I was a kid and it is STILL a good time! Having had to move from their original home on the grounds of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church because the grounds could no longer accommodate the amount of fest goers, they have found a new home on the state fair grounds. Somehow, they have managed to keep admission free and parking is only $5! Street parking is also available nearby.Where to start? The rides, because, as a kid, of course that was the first thing I was drawn to.Tickets are $1 each and the rides are between 3 and 5 tickets, depending on the ride. There is an unlimited pass available for use, but it is only within certain hours and costs $20. The rides range from kiddie cars and inflatable slides to flying swings, a ferris wheel, and a ride called the Cliff Hanger, where riders lay down and are locked in as the ride takes off and spins around, simulating flying. There are even bumper cars and a tilt-a-whirl! Fun houses and your typical carnival games abound as well.The entertainment: two tents with live music; one modern with anything from rock to disco and the other traditional with Greek dancers dressed in folk costumes getting members of the crowd to join in dancing.The food: gyros, spanokopita, shishkabobs, dolemades, and a few others, and baklava and many different Greek pastries and cookies for dessert. We shared a combo platter ($9) which consists of pita bread, fried onions and green peppers, olives, feta cheese, Greek meatballs, Greek sausage and Greek fries. The fries are skin-on fries and were pretty average. The meatballs were simple and delicious; I'd recommend the meatball sandwich to anyone. A new one for us? The Greek sausage. It is called Loukanico and is wonderful! It has orange zest and lemon flavor along with Greek spices in it. It has a hint of sweetness to it but then becomes soooo flavorful. I asked one of the vendors about it and they said that they get it from Parthenon Foods on 92nd and Cleveland in West Allis. We didn't try any of the pastries because they were just a little too pricey. $2 for a tiny piece of baklava. They were serving Miller and Coke products ($3 for a 20 oz. coke).The history: not much here.....a few blurbs about what Greek Orthodoxy is and a little bit about the Milwaukee church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.The merchandise: sorely lacking here, too. This is the festival's 50th anniversary and commemorative shirts are only $10, but the rest of the merchandise is sad. The pictures of Greece that are used on the merchandise are so old....like stock photos from the '50's and '60's! The jewelry is average, the books are mostly on religion and the rest of the merchandise is quite frankly, crap (think stuff like key chains, rubber bracelets, etc). I would have liked to have seen modern books on Greece and Greek tourism, the ruins, Greek mythology, the Greek language, things that would get me interested to learn more about the culture! Greek ethnic clothing or even shirts with images/sketches of Greek ruins/art!I normally would knock a star off because I like to shop and I felt that the offerings came up short in that area, but I am giving 5 stars because, damn, that sausage!!!!!88/2015

This festival is always a treat to attend. From the Greek traditional dances to the smell of the Greek Chicken roasting on the fire spits... there is something for everyone. The quality of the food and friendliness of the people...this festival stands the test of time! Gyros and Saganaki were awesome as usual! Definitely a return trip next year!

Great food, but not a lot to do there but eat! Plenty of places to sit. We'd stay longer if more entertainment was offered.

It's inaccurate the evil eye is not Greek it's Turkish. The attire the kids where wearing was Romani attire not Greek attire. Kinda disappointing they didn't do research on their own culture. The music they where playing was not Greek it was either Italian or Arabic. This is why we research things before trying to make a festival about it. The pastries where good though!