Fall Festivals – Portland, Oregon – Greek Festival and Oktoberfest
Next weekend there will be two unique festivals in Portland. The first is the 60th annual Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Laurelhurst. The second is the new kid on the festival block, the 2nd annual Oktoberfest at Prost! Portland (located in North Portland’s hip Mississippi District).
For 59 years, Holy Trinity has thrown a big, fat Greek Festival. With all that practice, number 60 ought to be something special! The party starts on Friday (9/30) and runs through Sunday (10/2). Friday and Saturday hours are 10AM-10PM, while Sunday is noon-8PM. Holy Trinity Cathedral is located at 3131 NE Glisan. Hundreds of people attend this event, so plan on parking a few blocks away during peak hours.
There will be music and dancing, tons of food/drink, an agora (serious shoppers will want to haggle), and a children’s corner (face painting, etc., ending at 8PM each day). Some of my favorite dishes are the Greek-style lamb (you can get a traditional Greek dinner or order a la carte), souvlaki, spanakopita, and other savories (rinsed down with an adult beverage). My kids are more partial to the sweets, particularly the loukoumades (awesome little fritters doused in honey (aka donut-hole soup)). I sure hope I’m around for the next 60 of these.
When you think of German beer, food, and atmosphere in Portland, there’s only one name – Prost! Actually, two names (it’s really called Prost! Portland). This October 1st and 2nd, they’ll be hosting their second annual Oktoberfest at their uber-cool North Portland brauhaus at 4237 N. Mississippi (at the SW corner of Skidmore). The party kicks off at 11AM on Saturday and ends at 10PM on Sunday (not sure if they quit in between).
Prost! (the exclamation point IS part of their name) will open their taps, kitchen, and 5,000 SF biergarten for the event. The flyer says there’ll be live music (can you say Oompah band?), traditional dancing, BBQ chicken, a Masskrugstemmen competition*, and bier, bier, und more bier. They encourage folks to come sporting Lederhosen and Dirndls. Think Clark Griswold from European Vacation and the St. Pauli girl’s dirndl and you’ll get the picture. As always, Prost! patrons are allowed to cruise the food carts next door at Mississippi Marketplace. They can bring their food back to enjoy with their beer. Prost! also sells their glassware, so you can take home a souvenir stein for between $10-20. This promises to be a great annual event.
*A Masskrug (a one-liter stein) is held with a fully extended arm that’s held parallel to the floor.
