Powdered puff pastries, authentic Greek music and dancing and an abundance of Greek food. All of this awaits the thousands of people who will attend Greensboro Greek Festival of 2017.

The event will take place at the Dormition of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

Philip Vavalides, a chairperson for the Greek Festival, has been working alongside four other people to organize the large event. They have been planning the festival since the first day of Nov. 2016, meeting every other week to shop for merchandise, prepare advertisements and plan for the activities available to the attendees.

This year’s festival is set to be different from the festivals in the past. 8,000 people are expected to attend this year in comparison to last year’s 6,500. With this many people expected, a lot of preparation has gone into making the food.

There will be a menu change with new sweets and pastries, including Kok, a Greek chocolate lava cake, and traditional Greek sweet bread.

“We have pastries coming out of our ears,” said Vavalides. With 14 different kinds of pastries available, there is a lot of work to be done in the week leading up to the festival. One of the most popular sweets are the loukoumades, small fried balls of dough covered in honey and powder.

According to Vavalides, there will also be craft beer on draft and wine available for the adults. Some of the beers available are Samuel Adams and beer from Foothills Brewery.

There will also be a new area for young attendees with bouncy houses, face painting and glow sticks available.

Those working to organize the festival are not the only ones preparing. The dancers of the event have been working tirelessly to perfect both traditional and modern Greek dance moves.

Juliana Ganim is a part of a high school group of dancers and has been performing at the festival for three years. The group has been practicing their sets for four hours a week since early August.

“After practice, I’m straight beat,” said Ganim, “But my favorite part is the dancing. Even though I’m really tired at the end, I want to go up the next weekend and do it again.”

The live musical performances will include modern Greek songs along with the traditional ones, a change from  previous festivals.

Along with traditional dances, festival goers can also expect to see The Evzones, a group of young men who replicate the Presidential Guard of the Greek Army. They will only be available on Saturday, Sept. 30, although a spartan warrior will be there all weekend to take pictures with the families.

There will also be vendors with merchandise directly from Greece, including chocolate, jewelry and colorful scarves.

Jordan Moore, a senior at Northwest high school and a committed festival attendee, says the festival is an exciting event to attend.

“It’s really great, I love the food, I love how it’s so cultural,” said Moore. The Greek Festival, though it is held at and offers tours of the church, is advertised as a way to show off Greek culture more so than the religion.

“It celebrates one of the many cultures that found its way here,” said Ganim. “People love to go and go for the feeling of family and openness.”