Tradition meets change at this weekend’s Greek Festival.

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is hosting the event for the 36th consecutive year — but for the first time since the church relocated from the Indianapolis Northside to Carmel.

The change of venue will not affect the festival’s key ingredients, said David Carlson, a longtime Holy Trinity congregant. The Greek food, music, costumes, dancing — all that will be the same, he said.

“Those who attend are going to feel this genuine hospitality of the Greek heritage,” said Carlson, 61, Franklin. “There is nothing begrudging about that hospitality. It is truly from the heart. It comes from the belief that to get together to celebrate is a wonderful human thing to do.”

Still — it will be different not gathering at the old site at 40th and Pennsylvania streets, church members said.

Helen Gounaris, 72, Indianapolis, loves the new church building — known as a temple in the Greek Orthodox tradition — at 106th Street and Shelbourne Road. People just need time to feel the same sense of familiarity, she said.

“It’s going to be an adjustment for people to go there,” said Gounaris, whose son, Rev. Anastasios Gounaris, is Holy Trinity’s minister. “Before, everything was the same every year.”

In past years, the festival has drawn as many as 10,000 or more visitors.

This year, the new temple lends a special excitement to the festivities, Carlson said. Organizers are giving tours of the facility throughout the festival’s duration today and Saturday.

“If you’ve seen the exterior of our temple, it is jaw-droppingly awesome,” Carlson said. “Many people will be coming to see the inside of the church and will stay for (the festival).”

The temple becomes one of the Indianapolis area’s best examples of Byzantine architecture, Carlson said.

“The tours will help visitors understand how the Byzantine architecture fits well and helps us with our faith,” he added. "Every aspect of the architecture is theologically important. It says something.

“For example, our church, if you looked at it from the air, you would see there’s this large dome and then three smaller domes surrounding it. For us, that triad design connects very much with the importance in Christian faith of the trinity.”

At a more earthly level, food will remain a big draw, Carlson said. That’s OK, he added.

“It’s a chance to eat foods you normally don’t get a chance to eat,” he said. Delicacies include souvlaki, a type of pork or chicken kebabs; spanakopita, which is spinach and feta cheese inside a filo triangle; and baklava, a traditional Greek pastry.

“There’s a tremendous amount of joy that comes with the food and everything about this festival,” Carlson said.