Participants at a past Yassou Festival at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, located at the corner of Mt. Vernon Place and Francis Street. The normal festival will not be held this year, but church officials are offering some of festival’s most popular foods for pre-order take-out between 4-8 p.m. Saturday, June 19. P-J file photos

You’re in luck if your favorite part of the annual Yassou Festival is the food.

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church will be hosting “Yassou To Go” this year offering pre-order take-out of some of the foods usually available during the Yassou Festival — held each year on Friday and Saturday of Father’s Day weekend. Food options will include a lamb shank dinner, spanakopita, loukoumades, Greek side salad and a bakery combo box that includes baklava triangles and kourambiedes.

Alexis Singleton, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church spokesperson, said church officials couldn’t start planning early enough this year to host the normal festival held under a huge tent that includes music and dancing.

“We decided to do an experiment and see how it goes,” she said. “If this works out and it’s well-received, we will potentially do another one with a different menu (later in the summer).”

Singleton said the Yassou Festival is the church’s largest annual fundraiser. She said the festival is a great way for the church to welcome members of the community.

“It’s a fellowship for both our parish community and the local community,” she said. “We wanted to show up for the community and we weren’t sure we would be able to host a big party under the tent. It’s important for us and it’s important for the community, and it will be nice to raise a few dollars for the church.”

Singleton said people should get their orders in as soon as possible with the deadline being Saturday, June 12. People can order by going online to stnicholasjamestown.org. She said it’s important for people to inform church officials of when they want to pick up their order. The pick up time will be between 4-8 p.m. Saturday, June 19. The church has two parking lots and is located at the corner of Mt. Vernon Place and Francis Street.

Singleton is hopeful the annual festival will be held again next year.

“It is definitely our hope,” she said. “For our parish, it’s a great experience for our kids and families to put on such an event and it’s really fun with the live music and the performances.”