49th annual Salt Lake Greek Festival to be the biggest, fattest 'this side of the Mississippi'

Editor’s note: This article features an interview with Rev. Fr. George Nikas on KSL NewsRadio’s Midday with Maria Shilaos . Tune in weekdays from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s capital city is ramping up to celebrate its 49th Greek Festival in the heart of downtown.

The festival prides itself on its size, thanks to the settlement and community carried on the backs of those who immigrated from Greece in the early 1900s. According to the festival and its host, the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, only three Greeks were listed in the 1900 census of Utah.

Flash forward to 1935, the Greek Festival began in its earliest form — a one-day Bazaar held inside the church, which was then stationed just a block away at 439 W. 400 South. It went on until 1975 when another day was added.