St. Symeon Orthodox Church to Welcome Community at Its 7th Annual Food and Culture Fair on October 18

Birmingham, AL, August 28, 2025 --(PR.com)-- Members at St. Symeon Orthodox Church in Birmingham are ramping up to welcome guests to the church’s 7th Annual Food and Culture Fair on October 18 from 9-3.

Guests will again be invited for church tours throughout the event, highlighted by the large iconographic murals fully adorning the interior. Foodies and shoppers will enjoy a wide array of baked goods, gifts, and hot food items such as Greek donuts, homemade pierogi, Ukrainian borsch, and sausage roll sandwiches at the event.

“Our 7th Annual Food and Culture Fair has given us an opportunity to reflect on how we’ve grown this event over the years, our annual open-house,” explained Niki May, the event’s chairperson, “Each year we review and see where we can provide a better, more enjoyable and engaging experience for our neighbors and guests. The addition of a big tent and expanded covered marketplace outside, are examples of our team’s own ‘big tent’ approach to welcoming our many guests,” she added.

Cultural Programs

In addition to church tours throughout the event, Fr. Phillip Ritchey, associate priest, will give a special talk at 10:15 a.m. titled, “Not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill the Law: Orthodox Church buildings as the fulfillment of the Jerusalem Temple,” which will look at the rich meaning behind the church’s traditional design with its three distinct areas.

The choir concert is always a featured highlight of the Food and Culture Fair, and this year the St. Symeon Orthodox Church Choir, under the direction of Subdeacon Stephen Ritchey, will present a concert of sacred music at 11 a.m. titled “The Psalms: Songbook of the Church,” featuring a cappella choral settings of several of the church’s most beloved hymns from the Old Testament. “The Psalms are used everywhere in Orthodox Christian prayers and worship. They make up the musical tapestry woven throughout the services of the Church,” Sdn. Stephen explained. Several CD recordings by the highly regarded St. Symeon Choir will be available in the Gift Shop.

Marketplace

The St. Symeon Food and Culture Fair has been an annual event (except for 2020) since 2018. In addition to the cultural programs offered inside the church, the event features an open air market under a big tent where guests can purchase baked goods and gifts from a variety of world cultures. Each year, church members work in teams to create market booths that loosely coincide with the different ethnic backgrounds of the congregation.

This year, the always-popular “Babushka’s Kitchen” will again offer Slavic foods, while Slavic tea from a samovar, as well as homemade kompot (a traditional Slavic fruit drink), will be offered in the “The Slavic Tea Room.”

Added for 2025 is “Moana Munchies,” a completely new Polynesian food booth. “Moana” means “ocean,” and this delightful new menu will provide a refreshing array of south-central Pacific treats.

Cafe Europa will be back this year, and other market booths will return as well, including the Balkan Bakery, Middle Eastern Market, and Southern Sweets and Savories. Perennial favorites, made-to-order loukoumades (fried Greek honey puffs), will again be served up hot in the Opa Kabana booth.

The event will also feature sausage roll sandwiches, homemade pierogi and Ukrainian borsch as hot lunch options. The pierogi are Slavic dumplings filled with potato, cheese and onion. “We make our pierogi entirely from scratch,” explained chairperson Niki May, “and are getting ready to spend a week together making as many pierogi as we can.” Pierogi will be served hot accompanied by caramelized onions and sour cream and will also be available frozen by the dozen.

Guests can enjoy their food purchases on site in the air-conditioned church fellowship hall and outdoors on the grounds, and are encouraged to stock up on baked goods to take home. There will be music in the fellowship hall for guests to enjoy, and the church’s gift shop will be open, offering books, choir CDs, icons, toys and other goods for sale.

St. Symeon Orthodox Church is located at 3101 Clairmont Avenue in Birmingham. It is a parish of the Orthodox Church in America. Regular weekly services include Vespers on Saturdays at 5 p.m. and the Divine Liturgy on Sundays at 10 a.m. A full schedule of services is available at StSymeon.com. Services are in English and visitors are welcome.

Photos are available here.