CLEVELAND — For about 100 years, the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church has been a part of the Tremont neighborhood and this weekend they hosted the 51st annual Tremont Greek Festival.

What You Need To Know

  • Tremont Greek Festival recovering after pandemic

  • Volunteers show how to make gyro

  • One volunteer talks about what culture means to him

Stefanos Stefanopoulos is one of the volunteers at the festival and said he was doing what he knew how to do best, cooking and preparing gyros.

“Right now, what we are doing is thinly shaving down the gyro column with a ton of different Greek seasonings,” he said.

Stefanopoulos said there are a lot that people don’t know about gyros besides their unique taste.

“The term gyro in Greek means to spin, essentially anything you put on a rotisserie could be considered a gyro or a spin, it’s been a tradition for 100’s of years, most likely,” he said.

But Stefanopoulos said this is not your typical gyro.

“We are one of the only churches that still does the traditional gyro cones at the festival. As you can see it’s labor intensive but you can’t compare the taste,” he said.

While the festival has been on its feet for quite some time now, organizers say they are still recovering from tough times, particularly due to the effects of the pandemic.

As for Stefanopoulos, he said this is a time to enjoy good food but also remembering his roots.

“I attended Greek school here, all the youth festivities,” he said. “Now in my 30s I am still here and as you can see enjoying the time with the memories we are making for us and our future.”