Upper Darby, PA – Every November, on Saturday following Thanksgiving, the Philadelphia Greek-American community gathers for one of the biggest dances of the year, The Pontian Akritai. For as long as I can remember, the event has been hosted at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox church in Upper Darby. It features musicians flown in from Greece and attracts attendees from all over North America. The atmosphere is electric and but there’s so many more reasons to attend.

  1. The church hall at St. Demetrios is decorated as good as any wedding we’ve seen.
  2. Pontian Greek jokes will be in abundance.
  3. Smoking and being loud is fashionable.
  4. The church hall is packed to capacity even more than Greek Independence Day.
  5. You get to see folk dances that are more than 2500 years old.
  6. Pontians dance their asses off-literally!
  7. It’s the one Greek event you hear a foreign language being spoken, then realize that Pontian is a form of ancient Greek.
  8. You finally get to wear your black funeral clothes out and say, “Yeah, I blend”.
  9. You can see more gold toothed smiles than wrappers with bling in their mouths.
  10. It’s the 75th anniversary (Duh!).

Pontian Society Akritai of Philadelphia Dinner Dance

Date: November 29
Location: St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church
229 Powell Ln Upper Darby, PA 19082
Phone: (610) 352-3525