William Westhoven

@WWesthoven

RANDOLPH - Greece may still be experiencing an economic crisis, but business was booming on Saturday at the Saint Andrew Greek Orthodox Church's Big Greek Festival.

An estimated record crowd in excess of 4,000 on Friday night put the three-day festival — a rich celebration of Greek culture, music, faith and food — on pace to shatter the unofficial record of 10,000-plus patrons, according to Steve Mitrakos, festival chairman and vice president of the parish council.

"Last night was very successful, thank God," Mitrakos said as customers were pouring into the church's big community center on Saturday after the festival re-opened for business at noon. "Our all-time high for a Friday night. We're always so weather-dependent, so it's a roll of the dice."

Many of the attendees sampling gyros, souvlaki and the festival's signature baklava sundaes came from within walking distance of the church on Sussex Turnpike, including Randolph resident Vijay Patel, who brought seven members of his extended family.

"I think I just spent over $100," Patel said. "But look at that food. Is this going to take long? I'm hungry."

Patrick Connolly and Carolyn Lanza came all the way from East Stroudsburg, Pa.

"I just recently got an apartment in Budd Lake and we saw the signs," said Lanza, who was preparing to sink into a souvlaki sandwich. "We go to this in Stroudsburg all the time, same weekend, actually. I can't pronounce any of it, but it's all so good."

Outside, kids were testing their skill at Boardwalk-style games and exploring two inflated bounce houses. Inside, many visitors headed into the church to a marketplace where vendors hawked clothing, jewelry and other wares. A DJ was spinning Greek music for the lunch crowd on a stage in the community center, where traditional Greek dance performances took place on Friday night. More dancing was scheduled for Saturday night.

But the big draw was the food, some of which Mitrakos said takes months to prepare.

"Our pastries are made almost months in advance because we have to build the baklavas, and we have to make so many of them," Mitrakos said. "We have a dedicated group of ladies who come in here every week, sometimes every day, to make our different pastries. But they also start making our appetizers like our tiropites, which is a cheese pie, spanakopita, which is a spinach pie, meatballs, all those types of things. Things like the lamb are just brought in and cooked fresh. Our pastitsio and moussaka is actually made by another group of ladies who have restaurants, and they come in here, in the morning, and make 50, 60 trays of these. So everything is really, really fresh."

Mitrakos and Keith Marin, president of the parish council, laughed when asked if they ever had to hire outside vendors to cook for up to 10,000 people and serve it both outside and inside.

"We're Greek, we have restaurants," said Marin, who, like Mitrakos, is a career IT man. "Well, not all of us, but we have the know-how."

The Greek influence extends to the bar, which sold ouzo and metaxa by the shot or bottle along with wine and a selection of beers, including Greek Mythos and locally-brewed Jersey Girl beer on tap.

The festival may not make enough money to bail out the Greek economy, but it plays an essential role in funding the church's mission, which includes outreach to the community currently focused on feeding the hungry in Dover.

Mitrakos declined to estimate the exact amount of revenue generated by the festival, but Marin said the long weekend produces up to a third of the church's annual budget.

"We do this to support our church and to do our ministries," Mitrakos said. "Our community now, once a month, goes to the Faith Kitchen (at Trinity Lutheran Church) in Dover and we serve over 100 people. We also do youth ministries for little kids to teens, we give to all sorts of organizations and our national ministries. All sorts of things."

"About a year ago, our national organization charged all of the chapters to meet the need to feeding the hungry, and our goal was to prepare 1 million meals between March of 2015 and July of this year," said Petra Knox, president of the Philoptchos (which means "friend to the poor") ladies auxiliary and is "the mother arm of the church." "The Philoptchos took over the Faith Kitchen on a day, and it has now expanded to include the entire community."

The festival concludes from noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $2, with free admission to children ages 12 and younger. Coupons for free admission can be found online at biggreekfestival.com.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.