Local Cultural Festivals

Allen and I attended two cultural festivals over the past couple of months. The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England hosted a Greek festival in our town that I saw advertised on social media. The festival had amazing Greek food on offer, which was was set up under large tents in the church’s parking lot. We had gyros and fries for lunch and then bought a roasted veggies dish with rice to have for dinner that evening.

Inside the church function room were some vendors selling crafts and housewares, and a large area was dedicated to baked goods for sale. Everything looked delicious! We bought some cookies covered in powdered sugar whose name escapes me, but they were similar to wedding cookies.

And last week, we attended an Indigenous Peoples Day celebration in a neighboring town. When we arrived, we caught part of a traditional dance and some remarks by the organizers.

It was a gloomy, rainy day, but the event still drew a sizable crowd. We ate some really good empanadas from a Peruvian vendor and I had some nice anise tea.

I also bought a peacock feather, friendship bracelet, and beaded earrings. A bunch of local nonprofits had tables as well—everything from environmental orgs to veterans orgs to historic preservation orgs. It was great to learn about all of the good work that the orgs are doing.

One of the nonprofits had a sign that listed different ways to be an ally to Indigenous peoples. This list from Greenpeace is very similar to what I saw.

I’ll be keeping an eye out for other cultural festivals, as I love trying different foods and celebrating other cultures. If you have any favorites in the Boston area, let me know in the comments!