The Greek Feast in Belgium was once more successfully held. According to the tradition, on Pentecost Monday, according to the Roman Catholic Calendar, all the Greeks of Belgium are gathering in the countryside, celebrate the Divine Liturgy and then start a big feast.
This year’s event marks the 60th anniversary of the first Greek Feast. It was in 1959, when Archimandrite Panteleimon Kontogiannis took the decision, on a day when there was an official state holiday, to gather all the Greeks of Belgium and “transfer” them to their homeland.
This tradition, the Greek Excursion as it was called by its initiator, kept going after the establishment of the Holy Metropolis of Belgium in 1969.
This year’s Greek Excursion, the so-called Greek Day, was held on Monday, June 10, in a beautiful park in Enghien, Hainaut.
Greek traders and restaurant owners in the area gave the opportunity to the people who gathered in the park to buy Greek products and taste Greek dishes. The good weather and the sunny day helped to make Greece feel strong for the people who participated.
Metropolitan Athenagoras, in his brief greeting, invited all attendees to accompany the great feast of the Metropolis, the celebrations of its Golden Jubilee, which will take place in November at the three Benelux countries, with the honourary presence of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Source: Metropolis of Belgium
