Refashionista/writer/fairy godmother of flea (markets) Cree McCree wrote so well about the most recent Greek Fest on Bayou St. John, I don’t feel the need to embellish it. In her review, she describes an event that shares its culture graciously, has good logistics  for getting all of the food/drink, and with a open invitation to join in on the dancing (or toga-wearing) fun. Just click the link below and be transported into a camp chair while she (in her unmistakable lilting/gravelly voice), her super-smart husband Donald and their tribe debate any number of subjects, as you do your best to keep up  verbally and beverage-wise.

What I DO want to add is an exhortation for locals to consider the record of this festival hosted by a single church on and around its grounds in order to simply support its community’s historic life in our city. And one done without co-opting any other group’s culture or adding more stages or more tents ’til the space is positively unsafe and then unable to serve the musicians or vendors or attendees well. That may it serve as a good example of how not every event has to have VIP tents,  to outsource every inch of  space around its commercial interior or to run roughshod over people relaxing at the edges there just to soak up good ol’ New Orleans togetherness, aka good vibes.
In other words, wannabe Quint Davises: if you really want to know how to do it, check your ego and your greed at the parish line and bring a chair next year to some of these neighborhood or church deals to learn about what works. And look for Cree; she’ll give you some good intel.

Source: Raise Some Retsina – It’s Greek Fest