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Pastry booth vendor volunteers smile from behind their table of baklava and other Greek desserts on Oct. 2, 2026. (Mica Magday | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\nJust before noon, sunlight spilled through the cloudy weather in time to light up the Mid-Cities Greek Foodfest. The smell of rain was overcome by the savory smell of fresh gyros and grilled souvlaki being served to incoming visitors alongside a celebratory \u201cOpa!\u201d \u2014 a Greek expression of joy, excitement or surprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very homey feeling,\u201d said Shane Pratt, who attended the festival with his partner, Grace Cannon. \u201cIt\u2019s a really good community and it\u2019s all in support of good things.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church hosted their annual Greek Foodfest in Euless, attracting visitors from across Tarrant County throughout the weekend for a slice of Greek culture. The festival featured local vendors, tours of the church, Greek-inspired folk performances, delicious Greek dishes and the culture\u2019s signature hospitality.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love to see our church family come together as volunteers, and then I love how we welcome the community from outside in,\u201d said Michael Eftimie, a chef at the event. \u201cWe call that philoxenia, the love of the neighbor or the stranger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eftimie said their culture expresses love through food. The festival included a variety of edible tokens of affection, like pastitsio, moussaka, saganaki, gyro, lamb chops and souvlaki. The dishes were served alongside Greek coffee, ice-cold Fix Hellas beer, a selection of Greek wines and traditional ouzo, a distilled spirit flavored with anise and known as Greece\u2019s national drink. After eating their lunch or dinner, guests stopped by the pastry and dessert tent for a baklava sundae or a box of the classic pastries to go.<\/p>\n
Pastry booth vendor volunteers smile from behind their table of baklava and other Greek desserts on Oct. 2, 2026. (Mica Magday | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
\u201cGreece brought to you by Texans,\u201d said Luca Tudora, one of the lead performers. \u201cYou got Southern hospitality with Greek food \u2014 that\u2019s essentially what\u2019s going on here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tudora is a member of the Fotia Dancers who performed throughout the weekend. Tudora partners with dance instructor Zoe Ruppel to choreograph and run their dance for the festival \u2014 the two have been dancing together since they were little. While dancing was something their parents originally made them do, they\u2019ve grown to use it as a way to connect to their peers, culture and community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have so much fun in our practices with each other and we all just laugh and we get to try new things out and be creative,\u201d said Ruppel.<\/p>\n
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Zoe Ruppel smiles while holding hands on stage with the Fotia Dancers during the Mid-Cities Greek Foodfest on Oct. 2, 2026. (Mica Magday | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
In addition to the Fotia Dancers, other groups included youth dancers with members as young as 5 years old, bringing a variety of performances \u2014 with some including the audience to participate.<\/p>\n
Other than the dancing and food, Ruppel and Tudora said another staple in the festival is their church. To Tudora, it is one of the most beautiful buildings in Euless and in the metroplex.<\/p>\n
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The altar at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Euless is a focus of a tour on Oct. 2, 2026. (Mica Magday | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
Tudora\u2019s father and the parish\u2019s presiding priest, the Rev. Vasile Tudora, hosted tours of their church throughout the weekend. Those who joined the tour were led to the front pews of the church under the building\u2019s dome, which was painted a seashell blue with depictions of angels dancing around Jesus and the apostles. A golden chandelier accented the room, emitting a warm light against the rest of the altar where the priest explained the details of the architecture and history of their faith.<\/p>\n
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The dome of St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Euless on Oct. 2, 2026. (Mica Magday | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
After nearly 35 years, the festival remains a much-anticipated annual event, with everyone invited to enjoy the food with the church\u2019s community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis parish as a whole is very much Balkan and a melting pot of different cultures. What I love about it is that even if you\u2019re not Greek everybody comes together and gives their love to this festival.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through these tours, the Rev. Tudora hopes that visitors will bring home an understanding of the Greek Orthodox faith along with their full bellies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope they will bring one thing, the fact that we don\u2019t make a separation between our life in Christ and our regular life. We don\u2019t hang our faith at the door when we go home. We try to live in a way that is appropriate to that life in Christ every day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mica Magday is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mica.magday@fortworthreport.org.\u00a0<\/p>\n