Long Beach Greek Festival

The food was great, nothing too impressive but very satisfying. The deserts were really sweet. Everything was great homemade feel and was worth the commute.

Good food & desserts. Calm sauntering around and snacking. Small, quiant. Free shuttle to and fro from Cal state so no stress with parking. Go at closing, avoid the $ 3 entrance fee, but risk them being out of baklava! This is a good one!

Parking really wasn’t an issue in the neighbhorood. We arrived late afternoon and drove around the block once and was able to get a spot. Sure you can take a shuttle from the college but we didn’t plan on being here the entire day.
The Sactuary, words cannot describe the beauty it was just gorgeous. Leave a donation and light candles for those whom are sick or in need of prayers.
The food was terrific, from George’s so how could you go wrong? The only thing is you first see the Gyro and Lamb Chop Booth then around the corner is the Calmari and Octopus. We each got a Gyros and it was of course just delcious, fresh and the tziki sauce is to die for. I love places that put Dill in their tziki. We shared an order of the grilled octopus. The marinade is a bit garlicky and very oily so you really don’t need this on the side, brushed on the octopus and cooked its delicious. On the side there is just a little too much balsamic. The octopus was very tender on the tentacle pieces but other pieces were quite chewy and gristly. We opted out of the calamari rings as those seemed frozen. We saved room for the loukamades were absolutely delicious balls of fried dough drizzled with honey and nuts and just the right amount of Nutella. I was looking for Yaya to come around the corner and pat me on the back telling me to get up and dance. There was a dining area inside where you could purchase a complete meal but when at a fair I prefer the street food.
Dancing was sparse in the afternoon. We arrived around ¾ish and there was some music and some dancing but mostly dancing by people drinking Uzo all afternoon and not anyone in traditional greek clothing dancing.
The reason for the 4 stars is there really wasn’t much to do. I beat the boyfriend in the Baloon race and won a silly stuffed pig. There were a few amusement park rides for the kids but besides the food, its certainly not a full day event. We did notice that the day time is mostly seniors and the younger people and younger families started arriving around ⁶⁄₇ PM when we left.

Yiamas! Great food, dancing, and people.
Food: The grilled octopus is full of flavor and cooked to perfection. The galaktobouriko is to die for and a must buy. Make sure to try the Loukoumades with Nutella and don’t forget to try the the Gyros and Lamb Chops.
Dancing: The live music was so contagious that I was one the dance floor even though I didn’t know the steps.
People: Everyone was kind and friendly.
I will definitely be back next year! I highly recommend this festival as it’s a great way to spend the Labor Day weekend.

Some tasty food and foreign accents, add some color and blessings make this a most intriguing adventure.

Calamari was dry overcooked overpriced beer been here many times before I don’t know what happening to them maybe new cooks new personnel so just wait for the next one in Anaheim much better

Happens on Labor Day every year in the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach.
I can see and hear everything (FYI Greek people be TURNT up!!) so 2 seconds to walk downstairs and indulge in some Greek culture is a fav thing of mine to do.
They have the iconic Greek food, the loud music, dancing, tents filled with little baubles and belly dancing wraps, gorgeous custom jewelry and home accents. They’ve got amusement rides in the back part for the kids and families to enjoy. Parking is ROUGH. I suggest parking somewhere around and walking there. The first year I went it was totally free, the next year they were charging $ 3 per person. So a heads up. A huge plate of food (in my roommates and I trip we shared a plate) including a gyro, fries and a coke will cost you $ 10 on the dot.
If you’re there I HIGHLY suggest trying to Greek doughnuts! It’s any sweet toothed persons dream come true!

Why not «Be a Greek for a day… opa»
Me and my 6 yrs old hit the fair on Monday afternoon, took the shuttle from CSULB, parking was plenty and shuttle’s where quick and air conditioned «ahhh».
Temp. was perfect at the fair, nice ocean breeze and not crowded at all, little one got on a few rides and played a few games some face painting, then we hit the food, little one wanted pizza and a pink lemonade, I went for the fried calamari ($ 8), feta fries ($ 6) and an ice cold beer ($ 5) not bad for some good size portions, I have to say the calamari was hot crispy and not chewy at all, the fries where ok, not crispy enough for my taste but good, gyros looked good but was to full to have one, did share an Italian ice (cherry) very good.
Overall we had a good time and definitely will be back next year.

Loved it! It’s much smaller than the LA Greek Fest but had all the necessities. Food was great (gyro from George’s and Lamb chunks from I don’t know where)! Loukoumades — OMG YUM!
See you next year ;-)

Is it the best Greek festival I’ve attended? Well no! Was there a huge variety of foods? Ehmm not really. Don’t get my wrong, the octopus was fresh, but it was far from «athentic» or like it is in Greece. They tried, I will give them that. On a more positive side the people are super friendly and helpful, the music and entertainment is fantastic and the overall good spirit is plentiful.

Not worthy of being called a festival. The grills were minuscule and not very impressive. I expect much more serious lamb and octopus action. The gyros were, meh, typical of any little place, not great. Not a great deal of variety to get excited about…
The sweets were pretty delicious and should have been showcased more.
Parking for cars looked bad, PARKING FOR BIKES WAS NIL! We even had to move our bikes because they wanted further from the parked cars…
I couldn’t get excited enough to shout out some opas… Maybe I’ve just been to some spectacular greek festivals elsewhere (Brisbane Australia) but this festival was crap.

I had a really nice time at the 2013 Long Beach Greek Festival. The temperatures were in the upper 90’s so it was super hot, but there was plenty of shade to eat/​drink all the yummy Greek goodness & hang out. This festival to me was all about the food. It was great to see George’s Greek in Long Beach representing at the festival. George’s is my mecca for Greek food. I had the gyro, feta fries & a Greek beer all from George’s. All were delicious. I also had the frappé (iced coffee drink), dipple, spanakopia, Greek salad & yogurt dip from other vendors. All were excellent and very authentic. There’s free parking + shuttle service from the CSULB parking lot /​garage at the corner of Palo Verde & Atherton. The shuttles are running nonstop so you won’t have to wait longer than 5 minutes. Admission is $ 3 or $ 2 if you show them the $ 1 coupon from their website on your phone. I highly recommend this festival if you like Greek food.

Everything was amazing at this Greek Festival. I was told it only occurs during labor day weekend and we were lucky enough to stop by this venue. Parking was free at CSULB and they have a free shuttle for us to take us to the venue. The vendors and crowd were awesome, never seen so many happy people that loved what they do. The music and ambiance made me feel like in Greece. The Orthodox church was really nice and you can lit some candles with offering donations. The look and smell of the food just made our mouth watered. The lamb combination, the greek donuts, the cheese puff pastry were delicious and fresh. I wish they had this every weekend and closer to where I lived. Definitely would come back next year for this festival! Greek people are AWESOME!!!

Pros:
Free parking with shuttle service
Low ($ 3) entry fee
Nummy pastries
Tasty Souvlaki — both chicken and pork
Cons:
Fried calamari — meh
Saganaki — bleh

This was my first year going to the Long Beach Greek Festival. A friend told me about it last year and I really was looking forward to trying it this year. Parking is free at the college and they shuttle you over to the festival so you don’t have to worry about parking. My husband and I went to the festival on the last day and the admission was free. They have a lot of different vendors there, selling food, gifts, and raffles to win prizes. They even have a carnival for kids.
We ate gyros, pork kebabs, grilled octopus, and a tiropites (flaky crust with cheese inside). It would have been better if they had some honey in with the cheese. At the end we had some Greek donuts called Loukoumas, in honey, cinnamon and almonds. We also tried some mango and watermelon Italian ice. Everything was delicious, the octopus wasn’t my favorite, but I felt like Andrew Zimmern eating something interesting. We also took some kettle corn home and some Greek desserts to try later.
Definitely check this place out next year!

Stay away from any greek festival that serves:
1) Calamari without tentacles. I can get calamari rings from my grocery store. Serve calamari with tentacles like the greeks in greece do.
2) Gyros — meat shaped like a patty can be served anyplace — used shaved meat like they do in greece.
Around 12:15 saturday there was already too long a line for gyros and the dinners. Hate to see what the lines were like later in the day.
Note: this was the only greek festival that served octopus which is commonly served in greece.

Great festival!
Nicely organized with multiple food stations giving you shorter lines to get your grub.
All of the food tasted freshly made. Unlike other ethnic festivals where it seems the food was prepared days in advance and reheated, this stuff was mouth watering delicious.
Dolmathes — really good aromatic flavor.
Spanikopita — girl brought out a fresh pan of this stuff so the inside was nice and hot, while the filo dough was buttery and flaky
Tiropites — cheesy flaky goodness
Greek Salad — one of the few meh items but who cares, you don’t win friends with salad.
Olives and Cheese — the cheese was tasty and fresh — had me wondering where the goat was stashed.
Loukoumathes — told the girl put everything on it. These also were the best I’ve had at a greek festival.
Lots of rides and games too. It felt like a carnival atmosphere in the kids area.
Blows away the festival in Irvine, sorry…

This festival has completely lost it’s mojo.
I’ve been coming here for years, and have watched the slow decline. Sure it’s more organized than ever, but that’s part of the problem.
Last year was pandemonium, and way too crowded, and that is probably why this year was so very regulated.
Last year: open fire pit roasted chickens packed with garlic lemon and oregano paste. Delicious, finger licking, spent my last dollars buying more, totally addictive, and this has been true for the past years before last year also.
This year: store-​bought rotisserie chickens with generic «garlic» seasoning flavor, totally ordinary and 100% forgettable. Vons does a better job.
Also: They charged me 8.00 for an a la carte half chicken, then I saw later on the price list that a whole chicken was 8.00, not a half.
Salad lettuce was brown and tired.
Rice was undercooked, from a mix, monotone, boring and bland with a very artificial garlic taste. NOT WORTH $ 12.00 for the plate!
Last year: open dance space surrounded by a «café-​like» area where beer and Ouzo was served, and plenty of space to loiter and watch people dance (albeit crowded).
This year: dance tent is shoved against a wall and the band is taking up a large portion of the center of the dance space. Muggy, hot, with NO airflow, no «hanging out» space and barely anyone dancing. No sitting anywhere in the dance area except designated seats, which are in tight, uncomfortable rows. You are not allowed to stand in front of the dance floor. You will be told to MOVE ALONG.
Last year: somewhat disorganized feel, but festive and fun chaos.
This year: event staff up your a$$ and in your face about anyone stopping anywhere where there is foot traffic and telling you «you can’t stand there… MOVE ALONG!!»
Chairs can no longer be moved from tables. If you move one and event staffer will come and tell you to put it back. This was never true in the past… you could take chairs here and there, go sit in the shade or against a wall.
Again, independently hired Event Staffers being total obnoxious Nazis and power tripping every second they can about tiny infractions. Like every cool thing that gets too big for it’s own good, the little things have been hijacked that made it special like watching people go on and off the dance floor and just hang out and add to the atmosphere.
Event staffers were everywhere, regulating everything. I figure someone got hurt last year, or too dunk, and they «cracking down» now. In my humble opinion, they have ruined it. This is the first year they have used these people, and you can tell they are used to dealing with assholes, because they were treating everyone like an asshole.
We came in, bought food, were disappointed, went to dance and listen to music-​we always like to hang out a bit first and listen, get in the mood, but that was not possible, so rather than sit in the heat and wait for the fun to begin, we left. I doubt we were there for more than one hour. NOT WORTH IT.
St. John’s festival in Anaheim in May is far superior. Before this fiasco, these two festivals were almost on even ground, with Long Beach winning for Food and Anaheim winning for dancing. Not anymore.

This is the second year I’ve been to this thing. When you look at it any place that serves beer and food is always a good thing. They also have music and dancing which is great for the kids.
The venue is pretty small. You can walk from one end to the other in about 5 minutes. There is plenty of beer and wine stands. They also serve Ouzo, which is good. For beer it’s Bud, Bud Light and a Greek import. Prices are about what you expect which is $ 6 a drink, $ 5 if you order a Bud.
Admission is free if you print out the flyer from their website. Otherwise you pay $ 3. We live locally so we right our bikes in so no need for a shuttle.
Now the food. I have to agree with the other posts that it’s just not up to par. When I go to an ethnic festival I expect some of the best food that that group has to offer. We started with the fried calamari from the Taverna stand which was actually good. I had the grilled octopus last year and I remember it tasting not too bad.
However, the prices are ridiculous. Athens West had a stand and their gyros were disgusting. It was basically frozen sliced lamb heated on a greasy skillet. then stopped with onions, tomatoes and tzatziki sauce, which was probably the worst tzatziki sauce I’ve ever had. I paid $ 8 for this delight. Then there was the Greek buffet. We had chicken with some peas and rice. It was OK, granted the food was mass prepared. The plates were average sized for $ 13.
George, where were you when we needed you most. You need to set up a booth here and show these people how to cook good Greek food.
So in the end, you are paying a lot of money for a mediocre experience.

A bit lame. I love community events and usually ill be more lenient in grading because they are community events but this one was unsatisfactory. There were not enough variety of food, parking was a hassle (good thing we came early), not many booths/​stands, the culture was lacking — I never went to the San Jose one, but my beau says that it is usually more robust than this.
The food here was not only absurdly pricey, but they were not tasty at all. They also had a cafeteria (which we found out later) – please put up a sign!
We had lamb gyro (little slices of lamb meat), roasted corn (that was tasty), and fried octopus with olive oil (tiny tiny tiny portion)
I went to an egyptian festival once in San Jose too and yes, it was small but you betcha there was of an ethnic feel to it. There was singing, there was music, there were big sales of pita bread!
They were suppose to charge admission at the door (unless you have a printout), but we went on Labor Day so admission was free. I would definitely be more upset if we had to pay admission for this.