The Beginning

Glendi started in 1989 as a means to expand the church. ‘The hall’ was just too small. That’s when a Greek couple from Portland suggested a ‘Glendi’, the Greek word for party. Given the food festival had been successful in Portland and other regions, the parishioners felt they had a shot. They established that the […]

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The Big Draw

The Food Glendi has taken place on the third weekend of September for 26 years. Celebrating cultural diversity, the parishioners of Saint Seraphim church set up booths that serve a wide variety of European foods, from Greek to Balkan and Russian to Italian. This is to celebrate the origins of all Orthodox Americans who arrived […]

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Youth & Tradition

Part of the power of Glendi is in its ability to bring youth to the parish, yet uphold tradition. My grandfather, who served as an Orthodox priest most of my life, guided a tiny parish in San Francisco, made up of seemingly no youth at all except for on holidays. This left the impression that […]

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