Charleston Greek Festival

One of Charleston’s oldest, most exuberant and delicious festivals returns on Mother’s Day weekend. 

2025 marks the 54th annual Charleston Greek Festival, taking place downtown.  Lively music and dancing, fabulous food, rich culture, friendly folks  -  it’ll all be there.  No wonder it’s the third largest festival in the Lowcountry, drawing about 35,000 people over the course of the three days.

Check the schedule for dance performances by Pegasus and Icarus,  Kyklonakia, Palamakia, and Asteria.  Vendors will be selling Greek jewelry, clothing, art, gifts and Greek music to take home.  They’ll be hosting Greek wine tastings as well as tours of the historic Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity.  Sunday morning you are welcome to take part in a Divine Liturgy (a Greek Orthodox service) at 10:00 a.m in the church.

On the outdoor grills, there will be gyros (lamb & beef , chicken or veggie), pork souvlaki and Greek fries all making the air smell heavenly.  In the taverna dining, they’ll be serving up pastichio, moussaka, dolmades, keftedes (Greek meatballs), spanakopita, Greek chicken, roasted lamb, fasolakia (Greek green beans), Greek potatoes and Greek salad.

And then there’s dessert and plenty of those amazing pastries… baklava, finikia (melomakarona), kourabiedes, kataifi, koulourakia, paximadia, ergo lav os, diples, loukoumades (Greek donuts), baklava ice cream sundaes, and Greek frappes.  Thankfully there are translations and descriptions on their menu here.  

Admission is $5 general, $3 for seniors & students.  It’s FREE for kids 12 and under and active military.  Part of the proceeds go to charity.

Festival hours are…

• Friday, May 9th: 5:00 p.m. till 10:00 p.m.
• Saturday, May 10th:  11:00 a.m. till 10:00 p.m.
• Sunday, May 11th (Mother’s Day): noon till 6:00 p.m.

The location: Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church at 30 Race Street.  There’s free parking and a free shuttle bus leaving from Harborview Tower (19 Hagood Avenue).  Shuttles run every ten minutes.