Welcome!
Join us on Saturday, October 14, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for our fifth annual St. Symeon Food and Culture Fair!
~~~
The St. Symeon Food and Culture Fair is our way of sharing our multi-ethnic community with the city of Birmingham and surrounding areas. Come visit our church building, learn about the iconographic murals being painted in the church (including new murals covering the nave,) as well as the landmark tile mosaic icon overlooking Clairmont Avenue. While visiting, enjoy a presentation by our internationally acclaimed choir and don’t forget to shop at our one-day-only multi-ethnic marketplace.
Marketplace
The five market stalls are: The Slavic Tea Room, The Balkan Bakery, Cafe Europa, Southern Sweets and Savories, and new for 2023, the Middle-Eastern Marketplace. The Slavic Tea Room will feature Slavic specialties including Russian tea, Ukrainian piroshki (fruit-filled, fried buns), jam-filled blini, and a variety of cookies. The Balkan Bakery will offer Greek, Bulgarian and Turkish specialties such as Turkish coffee made to order, Greek Easter bread, and Bulgarian banitsa. Parishioners representing European countries from Norway to Italy and Ireland to Latvia are teamed up to offer treats in Cafe Europa, including Madeleines (small French cakes), pizzelles (Italian waffle cookies), Norwegian cardamom buns, shortbread, and chocolate confections. Southern Sweets and Savories will offer specialties of the American South, including pound cake, peach cobblers, bread pudding, caramel apples, boiled peanuts, and hot mustard. The Middle Eastern Marketplace will feature homemade hummus, spinach pies, and a handful of other middle eastern and Ethiopian foods, including a variety of vegan options.
The church bookstore has been re-vamped and will feature dozens of books, CDs, and Orthodox and ethnic gifts, made by members of our community as well as traditional creators from around the world.
Returning again will be the much-beloved Opa! Kabana, where you can get made-to-order loukoumades (fried Greek honey putts) drenched in honey syrup, powdered sugar, or chocolate.
Church Tours, Sacred Music, Iconography TalksSelf-guided and host-facilitated church tours will be ongoing throughout the Food and Culture Fair. Also inside the church, at at 1 p.m., Protodeacon Ephraim Rivers will give a talk inside the church on the subject, “What is Iconography?” Please join Father Deacon Ephraim for this opportunity to learn about the icons that fill our church, church grounds, and homes. Our church choir will give a concert at 11 a.m. titled "God Grant You Many Years: Hymns From Throughout the Ages," featuring beautiful and traditional arrangements of hymns from fourth-century Constantinople to twenty-first-century America. You will not want to miss this opportunity to hear our choir, which is one of the best-loved Orthodox choirs in America and has fans around the world!
Our Social MediaOur social media are full of photos of products we’re selling at the Food and Culture Fair, interesting articles, and other tidbits. We’d be honored if you’d follow us:
The Food & Culture Fair will be a Snapchat Geofilter Zone, and we’d love for you to share photos from the fair social media. Our hashtag is #stsymeonfair23. You can find our press release HERE!
Come, Taste & See!