The smell of grilled octopus and pastitsio is drifting over East Colorado Street again this Labor Day weekend, as the Long Beach Greek Festival returns to Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church. Gates open at noon each day, with $5 admission covering live music, dancing, shopping, church tours, and a full spread of Greek cooking, according to the seed announcement.
The festival is not a new addition to the neighborhood. As reported by Long Beach City, this year's gathering continues a Labor Day tradition that traces back to the parish itself. Greek Orthodox families in Long Beach and San Pedro secured a church charter in 1937, spent a decade fundraising, broke ground in 1947, and opened the church on Pacific Avenue on August 15, 1949 — with a festival held immediately following that opening liturgy, according to the Long Beach Greek Festival. That first celebration set the pattern for the annual event still running 77 years later, and the festival marked its 75th anniversary milestone in September 2024, cementing its place as one of the city's longest-running cultural traditions.
A Parish Built on Philoxenia
The festival serves as Assumption Church's primary annual fundraiser, supporting parish programming and operations, and organizers root the event in the Hellenic concept of philoxenia — literally, love of the stranger — a cultural obligation of hospitality extended to every visitor regardless of background. Today the parish counts roughly 400 families under Presiding Priest Rev. Fr. Christos Kanakis, who has led the congregation since March 2013, per the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco. The church operates within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Church tours offered during the festival give visitors a look at the sanctuary's Byzantine-style artwork, which includes hundreds of painted wall icons depicting Old and New Testament stories alongside historical Orthodox saints, including regional figures such as St. Peter the Aleut, according to Tarnmoor.
Food, Shuttles, and a City-Wide Prelude
Volunteers prepare the festival's menu by hand, and this year's offerings include labor-intensive traditional dishes like pastitsio, galaktoboureko, grilled octopus, lamb chops, and loukoumades alongside gyros and spanakopita, with many recipes passed down through generations of parishioners. Because space at the church site is extremely limited, organizers set up free off-site parking with continuous shuttle rides to and from the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center lot on Bellflower Boulevard, a measure meant to keep visitor traffic off the residential blocks surrounding East Colorado Street, according to Visit Long Beach.
The city leaned into the celebration before the gates even opened, designating the run-up days as LB Greek Week, with food specials and promotions at local Greek-owned businesses including Colossus Bread, Pita Pitaki, and Nick the Greek, giving residents a citywide prelude to the weekend.
Part of a Bigger Regional and Cultural Moment
Long Beach's festival functions as an early anchor in Southern California's autumn Greek festival circuit, which continues later in the season with events at Pasadena's St. Anthony Church in late September and Los Angeles's Saint Sophia Cathedral in October, per Tarnmoor. Late summer through mid-autumn is peak season for these regional church festivals across the region.
The event also arrives amid a broader moment for Long Beach's Hellenic community. In September 2025, the Hellenic Olympic Committee selected Long Beach as the site for Greece's official Team House during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, citing the city's active Greek community, as Hoodline previously reported. The team house is expected to serve as a hub for cultural exhibits and gatherings during the 2028 Summer Games, adding another layer of significance to a festival that has quietly run since 1949.
