Come Hungry: Fresno Greek Fest Is Back With New Food, Live Music and Plenty of Yia Mas

Fresno Greek Fest is back for its 64th year, and this one comes with new food, live music, dancing, family fun and a Greek-inspired beer brewed right here in Fresno.

There are some Fresno weekends when the only responsible thing to do is show up hungry.

This is one of them.

The 64th Annual Fresno Greek Fest returns September 18 through 20 at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, bringing three days of food, music, dancing, family fun and the kind of hospitality that makes you feel like you have been invited to one very large, very lively family gathering.

If you have been before, you already know. You catch the smell of the grills before you make it through the gate. The music is playing. Someone is dancing. Someone else is carrying a tray of pastries that makes you question every food decision you made earlier that day.🥙🍯

If you have never been, this is your invitation.

Fresno Gets to Be Greek for a Weekend

One of the things I love about Fresno is how many cultures have shaped the personality of this city. Greek Fest is a perfect example. It is not just an event where you grab a gyro and head home. It is a full weekend of food, history, music, faith, dancing and community.

The Greek community has deep roots here. Greek immigrants began building a community in Fresno in the early 1900s, and St. George Greek Orthodox Church traces its local history back more than a century.

Now, 64 festivals later, thousands of people arrive each year ready to eat, explore and celebrate together.

That kind of tradition matters.

It also tastes really good.

Let’s Talk About the Food

You will find the classics: gyros, souvlaki, moussaka, pastichio, spanakopita, tiropita, Greek chicken, lamb shank, calamari, dolmades, Greek salad, Greek fries and enough baklava to test the limits of your self-control.

My advice? Do not fight it.

Make a lap. See what everyone else is carrying. Ask questions. Try something you cannot pronounce. Then save room for the loukoumades, those warm Greek doughnuts covered in honey or syrup.

This year, there is even more to try.

The 2026 menu introduces Smyrna meatballs, grated mizithra cheese, Greek canned tea and Dubai-style loukoumades topped with pistachio cream, shredded filo pastry and chocolate. You will also find skinos mastiha, a Greek spirit made from mastiha resin.

That is not a snack list. That is a strategy.

A Fresno-Brewed Beer With a Greek Story

This year also brings something you will not find at many Greek festivals in California: a Greek-inspired beer brewed right here in Fresno.

Sequoia Brewing created Ethos Lager, a light, crisp beer inspired by owner Bill Avakian’s travels through Greece. Before making its festival debut, the beer received a traditional blessing from Father Jim Pappas of St. George.

There will also be Fig Leaf and Sour Cherry seltzers, plus Greek wines and other drinks at the festival’s Grecian-style taverna.🍷🍒

And here is a useful phrase for the weekend: yia mas.

It means “to our health,” and it is the Greek version of “cheers.”🍻

Now you are ready.

Come for Dinner, Stay for the Dancing

The food may get you through the gate, but Greek Fest is about much more than what is on your plate.

There is live music throughout the weekend, including The Olympians from Long Beach on the main stage and internationally known musician Orestes Koletsos with his duo from Athens playing acoustic sets on the patio. Dance groups from Fresno, Redondo Beach and Bakersfield will perform, along with crowd-favorite wine dancer Dimitri Arabatzis. 🎶💃

And yes, you can dance too.

You do not need experience. You do not need perfect rhythm. Just step in and follow someone who looks like they know what they are doing.

Honestly, that is a pretty good rule for life in general.

Families will find inflatable slides, bouncers and activities for the kids, with unlimited daily wristbands available. You can also tour St. George Greek Orthodox Church and see its renovated domed ceiling and stained glass. Even if you have driven past the church a hundred times, stepping inside gives you a better sense of the history and beauty behind this event. ⛪

Before you leave, stop by the Greek market and bookstore for art, jewelry, icons, cookbooks, gifts and Greek ingredients that are not always easy to find.

You may arrive planning to buy dinner and leave with olive oil, a cookbook and a strong belief that your kitchen needs more feta. 🫒🧀

The Details

What to know	Information
Dates and hours	Friday, September 18, 4:00 to 10:00 p.m.; Saturday, September 19, 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; Sunday, September 20, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Location	St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 2219 N. Orchard St., Fresno, at First and Clinton
Admission	$8 for adults; $4 for seniors 65 and older and students with ID; free for children 12 and younger and active military with ID
Payment	The festival is cash-free and accepts major cards, debit cards and tap-to-pay
Parking	Free and paid lots are available nearby; check the official parking guide for exact days and hours
Shuttles	Free shuttle vans run continuously from Birney Elementary School and St. Peter Serbian Orthodox Church

A portion of every admission ticket benefits Poverello House.

Parking around a festival this popular can get busy, so take advantage of the free shuttle lots if you can. The official Fresno Greek Fest website has parking locations, maps and the latest updates.

Fresno Greek Fest is one of those events that reminds you what is special about living here. It has history. It has heart. It brings families and neighbors together. It welcomes people who grew up with these traditions and people who are discovering them for the first time.

And it has baklava. A lot of baklava.

So bring the family, bring your appetite and leave enough room in your plans to stay awhile. Listen to the music. Tour the church. Try the new food. Join the dancing. Raise a glass and say yia mas.🎶💃

This weekend, Fresno gets to be Greek.

And Fresno? I say FresYes!🙌

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Jason Farris

Head YES man at FresYes.com

I grew up in Fresno. Relaxed in its calm breezes, listened with my dad to the crack of the bat at little league baseball games when I was a kid and now take my son to do the same at minor league games. I broadened my mind at its schools (I went to high school right here at San Joaquin Memorial, and to college at Fresno State!) I love that if I drive for two hours in one direction, I can be in the mountains. For two hours in another, luxuriating on a California beach. I can enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere of San Francisco or Los Angeles, but still be able to come home to relaxation, calm, and quiet.

I love where I live, and I also love what I do. I'm lucky to be able to work in a profession in which I get to build relationships; one that has me meeting new people each and every day and helping them to build new lives in my beloved city. I'm lucky enough to work in a profession in which I can marry cutting-edge technologies and marketing techniques to good, old-fashioned, nose-to-the-grindstone work. I am lucky enough to work in a profession that allows me to work as an advocate for my clients; to use every tool at my disposal to get a job done well for them, and with as little stress and expense as possible.

I love my city. I love my job. One inspires my excellence for the other.

Fresno? I say FresYES