The Atlanta Greek Festival is skipping its usual sprawling grounds setup this year, trading tents and dancing for a pickup lane. The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation is running a drive-thru version of its beloved food festival from Friday through Sunday, a shift tied directly to renovations underway across its Clairmont Road campus.
The change means no festival on cathedral grounds this year, according to CBS Atlanta, which reports the cathedral has celebrated Greek food and culture for 50 years. This year's version, dubbed the Greek Feast Drive-Thru, runs September 25 through 27 at 2500 Clairmont Road, with hours from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, according to Atlanta on the Cheap. The outlet notes menu options range from $6 a la carte items to $22 complete dinners featuring moussaka, lamb, and pastitsio.
A Half-Century Tradition Pauses for Construction
The festival's roots stretch back to 1974, meaning it had already marked 50 years of continuous celebration before this year's pause, per historical context from the DeKalb History Center. Father Christos Mara said the drive-thru continues the cathedral's hospitality even without the full festival footprint, the station's report notes. Atlanta on the Cheap says the festival is pausing until 2027, while CBS Atlanta reports construction should be completed by next year to accommodate a larger festival.
Ginnie Roglin, a congregant who helps with the cooking, said the event still lets the cathedral and its parishioners share Greek foods and pastries with the community, per the CBS Atlanta report. Preorders for the drive-thru were available ahead of time, with proceeds benefiting the church.
Renovations Reshape the Clairmont Road Campus
The current cathedral campus, dedicated on December 20, 1970, followed a building program launched in 1964, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia. The site is known for its Byzantine-style gold dome and educational wing.
The broader construction is expected to be completed by next year, with added space intended to accommodate a larger festival.
Preorders Remain Available
Preorders for this year's drive-thru were still available on September 24.
The parish itself dates back to September 5, 1905, when the community adopted the Annunciation Society name; the founding society had grown to 72 by 1906, per the DeKalb History Center. The congregation moved from a rented hall above a Whitehall Street building to locations on Decatur Street, Garnett Street and Central Avenue, then to a renovated former synagogue at Pryor and Richardson streets purchased for $35,000 in July 1929, before eventually settling on Clairmont Road, according to the Cathedral of the Annunciation.
A Drive-Thru Alternative for Greek Food Fans
For now, Atlanta's Greek food fans will have to settle for a pickup window instead of the festival grounds.
