The sixth annual Metropolis of Pittsburgh Greek Language Festival was hosted by Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Cleveland Heights. Chairing the event was Maria Sikoutris. Hundreds of children and families who study Greek converged to perform, exhibit artwork, compete in a Quiz Bowl, make crafts, and have fun.

Performances from many Greek Schools included an original Karagiotzi skit by Annunciation in Columbus, a duet sung by a grandmother and her granddaughter from the host parish, songs and a Greek tragedy performed by St. Demetrios in Rocky River, songs, hymns, a lyra solo, recorder solo, and skit from Annunciation in Cleveland, a guitar solo from Holy Trinity, Canton, songs from St. Paul in North Royalton, and a clarinet solo from St. Nicholas Cathedral of Pittsburgh. An impressive Art Exhibit was on display made up of children’s artwork from throughout the Metropolis. A variety of craft tables were available for children to make creative pieces.

For the Quiz Bowl, students studied material and vocabulary words for spelling in Greek, liturgical words and phrases, words from Greek roots, the lives of saints – St. John Maximovitch and St. Marina, Greek musical instruments, history of the Persian Wars and the Mycenean, Minoan, and Cycladic Civilizations, and lives and artwork of the Greek artists Kostas Varotsis and Nikolaos Gyzis. All teams this year competed on the Intermediate Level and every team did an incredible job! Winners were: First Place, from St. Nicholas in Pittsburgh, Ralou Benos, Toula Darakos, Konstantinos Karamalides; Second Place, from Annunciation in Cleveland, Konstantina Prinolakis, Gregory Sisamis, Georgios Sisamis; and Third Place, from St. Nicholas in Pittsburgh, Stefania Bounos, Yanna Mavrogeorgis, and Perry Velisaris.

All students who participated in the festival were given a certificate their academic school records denoting their participation in an academic foreign language activity. It was a fun day with much to share from each other, and each participant went home with a commemorative gift. This event is open to the public and we encourage you to come and enjoy the festival next year! Students interested in participating can study material from previous festivals online. New study material will be released in October, 2018.