Greek Festival prepares to transform Roanoke this weekend

Organizers expect 30,000 festivalgoers

ROANOKE, Va. – The Star City will transform into Athens, Greece this weekend for the 14th annual Greek festival.

On Wednesday and Thursday, volunteers at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Roanoke will be preparing for the big event which starts at 11 a.m. Friday.

Organizers expect about 30,000 people will come and enjoy the Greek food, wine, traditional music and dancing, while also giving back to the local community.

"We've been giving back money every year from the proceeds from our festival. Helping a lot of local charities we're probably in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, in the 14 years we've given," said Pete Simopoulos, chairman of the festival.

This year, the church will support local organizations, including the Salvation Army and Children's Trust and Adult Care Center.