LINCOLN PARK — Lincoln Park gets Hellenised this weekend with the 40th annual Greek Fest at the St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 2701 N. Sheffield Ave.
The food ranges from the predictable gyros to specialties like pastitsio, Greek lasagna, and backlava, and the music runs the same gamut from the mainstream to the exotic.
Friday night is pop rock with Stache at 5:30 p.m. and 16 Candles at 7:30 p.m. Saturday features the Ormi Orchestra playing modern and traditional Greek music from noon-5 p.m., before settling back into the mainstream with Girl Power Night at 6 p.m. and Boy Band Review at 8 p.m. Then Sunday is all Greek with an appearance by the cast of "Tony n' Tina's Wedding" at 1 p.m. followed by the return of the Ormi Orchestra from 4 p.m. to the close of the festival.
Hours are 5-11 p.m. Friday, noon-11 p.m. Saturday and noon-10 p.m. Sunday. Any donation is accepted for admission, with food and drink obviously extra. Proceeds go to restoration work on St. George, and the church will also be open for tours of its Eastern Orthodox iconography.
• The city's weekly Lincoln Park Market returns to action at 7 a.m. Saturday at 700 W. Armitage Ave. It accepts LINK cards and offers double value coupons with each LINK purchase. It runs until 1 p.m.
• Which is right when the Lincoln Central Association starts up its annual Spring Zing event at Lincoln Central Park at Lincoln and Dickens avenues. Magician Sean Masterson performs tricks, and kid attractions include a bouncy house, Bozo buckets, a fast-pitch speed gun and a visit by the local Chicago Fire Department company. Geja's Cafe, Tobacco Road and Vanille are among those supplying food and drink. The two-hour event shuts down at 3 p.m.
