For those who want to become Greek for a weekend, Jessica Morgan has a tip: Don’t say opa, say yia mas.
Morgan, a spokesperson for the Fresno Greek Festival, was at Sequoia Brewing Co. Monday for the Blessing of the Brew, marking the first time a local brewery has made a special Greek-inspired beer for the event.
It’s one of many new food and drink options debuting at this year’s Greek Festival, including Smyrna meatballs, grated mizithra, Dubai-style loukoumades, skinos mastiha (a type of Greek spirit made from mastiha resin), Sequoia’s beer, two new seltzers (also made by Sequoia) and Greek canned tea.
Peter Vallis, the chairman of the festival, has wanted to introduce several of these items for years. The hold up was finding a way to produce them in the bulk needed, as the festival often brings in between 23,000 to 26,000 people.
The items also reflect the current culture of Greece. Loukoumades are deep-fried donuts soaked in honey or syrup, and are a staple of Greek cuisine, but adding pistachio cream, shredded filo pastry and chocolate reflects a popular international food trend.
“We try to keep things as authentic to today as possible,” Vallis told The Fresno Bee.
That idea is also behind the new beer and seltzers Sequoia Brewing Co. is producing for the festival. Ethos Lager, a light, crisp beer, was inspired by Sequoia owner Bill Avakian’s travels through Greece, as were the fig leaf and sour cherry seltzers.
The beer was blessed by Father Jim Pappas of St. George Greek Orthodox Church Monday. All food being served will be blessed by Pappas, who brought holy oil and a sprig of basil with him.
Everyone who attends will be blessed by Pappas as well, and he invited everybody, regardless of heritage, to come celebrate. The Fresno Greek Fest runs Friday, Sept. 18 through Sunday, Sept. 20, and is being held at St. George Greek Orthodox Church.
“We are sharing our Greek hospitality, philanthropia, to and with philoxenia, which means friends of all,” Pappas said.
Morgan has been involved with the festival for years, to the point where her family knows that this weekend is off-limits for her. She has three children, and she appreciates the chance to show off her heritage — their heritage — with them in such a big way.
“The whole thing is so exciting, to share another piece of home,” Morgan said.
And part of that means getting the drinking customs right. Opa is an expression that originally meant oops, but has evolved into one of joy and celebration. Yia mas, on the other hand, means ‘to our health’, and is closer to cheers or salud.
She taught it to the group assembled for the blessing before they sampled the new beer.
“Only because I’m tired of people saying ‘opa’ when they come to the bar,” Morgan said. “It’s a personal thing.”
This story was originally published September 16, 2026 at 8:03 AM.
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Amber Hair (they/them) is the food and restaurants reporter and influencer. Amber has been in professional journalism for more than a decade, writing for outlets like the Orlando Sentinel, The Villages Daily Sun, the Pacific Coast Business Times and others. In their spare time, they enjoy going to concerts, reading and spending time with their cats.