Go Greek at Oakland's Greek Festival

OAKLAND —There are a variety of ways to enjoy the 36th Oakland Greek Festival this weekend.

1) Go there. It's at the Ascension Greek Orthodox Cathedral in the Oakland hills, and merely being there is a mini-trip to Greece.

2) Go ancient. Once there, you'll find history lectures and displays in which you can learn about notable Greeks such as Thucydides, who was one of the first true historians, the father of the school of political realism and the author of "The History of the Peloponnesian War." And Hypatia, considered the first notable woman in mathematics, who also taught philosophy and astronomy and believed in a single divine being as the ultimate source of all reality, a conviction that altered her own reality because it got her dragged out of her chariot and murdered. Talk about Greek drama.

3) Go modern. Meet "American Idol" season-four contestant Constantine Maroulis, a Greek-American who has since starred on- and off-Broadway, released his own solo album, toured, appeared on "The Bold and the Beautiful" and is a co-host on this season's "American Idol Extra" on the Fox Reality channel. Top that, Thucydides!

4) Eat, drink and be merry. This option can be combined with all of the above, is highly encouraged and is pretty easy to accomplish.

That's because you can't fall down without hitting Greek delicacies such as tsatziki, spanakopita, dolmathes, spanakorizo, melomacarona, kourabiedes or saganaki with kefalograviera

Be advised, you will not be able to pronounce any of these items, but there's no need. Just point, and someone will be happy get them for you.

After that, you can enjoy dancing, photography, mellifluous music, art, cooking demonstrations, or go on a tour of the massive cathedral itself.

Built in 1960, the spectacular church dome is copper (gone green) on the outside and gold-anodized aluminum on the inside, giving it a heavenly golden glow behind portraits of the apostles and a huge icon of Jesus Christ.

Above all, you can meet some really delightful people, such as Anastasia Glafkides, who was working at one of the food booths Friday and was eager to share the secret to a spectacular spanakopita.

"The secret is that you have to love to make it, and you have to love to eat it," she said.

No problem on the latter, Anastasia.

The festival, which began Friday, continues from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. today and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $6.

Entry is free after 5 p.m. Sunday. Ample free parking and shuttle service is available at the Mormon temple, the Cerebral Palsy Center, Head Royce School and Woodminster Amphitheater.

Premium parking will be available in the cathedral's parking pavilion for $10.

For more information, call 510-531-3400 or visit www.oaklandgreekfestival.com.

Contact Angela Hill at ahill@bayareanewsgroup.com or 510-208-6493.