Folk Dance & Choral Festival

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San Francisco Marriott Marquis

Prepared for

Prepared for Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco Metropolis Council and Clergy Laity Meeting March 3-5, 2019

Executive Board of Trustees His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos Fr. Gary Kyriacou - Chairman Spiro Beckas - Vice Chairman Michael Syrengelas - Director of Finance

FDF Board of Trustees Christa Barbas - Judge Coordinator Eleni Beckas - Secretary John Buzas - Legal Consultant Voula Contos - Director of Competition George Demos - Director of Endowment Vicki Demos - Scholarships Manager Johanna Duterte - Metropolis Youth Director Fr. Christos Kanakis - Liturgical Coordinator Kathy Loukatos Meck - Choral Festival Coordinator Manoli Rodarakis - Director of Logistics Laurie Sahines - Parent Representative, Northern California Anne Sirota - Judge Consultant Fr. Michael State - Diakonia Project Coordinator

FDF Management Team 2019 Managing Director

Paul Mantas

St. John: Anaheim, CA Competition

Director of Competition Voula Contos Competition / Live Stream Anthony John Competition / Live Stream George Plumis Competition / Live Stream George Xidias Competition Gregory Karapoulios Competition Christina Vasilion Competition Christos Nikoloutsopoulos Competition / Social Media Michael Schwenke Comp/Live Stream/FDF App Alexandra Schwenke Choral Competition Nick Metrakos Dir of Marketing -PR/ Comp Christine Karambelas

Assumption, Long Beach, CA St. Demetrios: Seattle, WA St. Demetrios: Seattle, WA St. Demetrios: Seattle, WA Assumption, Long Beach, CA St. Katherine: Redondo Beach, CA Ascension: Oakland, CA Assumption: Scottsdale, AZ St. Demetrios: Seattle, WA Holy Trinity: San Francisco, CA St. Demetrios: Seattle, WA

Diakonia Diakonia / Vendors Eleni Beckas Diakonia / Registration Alexandra Spirtos Diakonia/Workshops Merch Angela Woerz

Assumption: Long Beach, CA Holy Cross: Belmont, CA Holy Trinity; Phoenix, AZ

Events Director of Events Events / Oli Mazi Events Events Events

Tonie Bangos Elizabeth Keyser Danae Pappas Christina Tsapouklis Haroula Kyriacou

Judge Coordinator Judges

Christa Barbas Panagiota Devekos

St. John: Anaheim, CA Holy Trinity; Phoenix, AZ St. Anthony: Pasadena, CA St. Anthony: Pasadena, CA St. Nicholas: Northridge, CA

Judges St. Demetrios: Seattle, WA St. Demetrios: Seattle, WA

Logistics Director of Logistics Logistics Logistics Logistics Logistics Logistics Meals Lead / Logistics Meals / Logistics / Security

Manoli Rodarakis John Zoumberakis Yianni Magoulias Stavros Stathoudakis Jimmy Pallios Anthony Stavrianoudakis Taki Vathis George Mitsopoulos

Annunciation: Modesto, CA St. George: Downey, CA Annunciation: Sacramento, CA Annunciation: Modesto, CA St. George: Fresno, CA Annunciation: Modesto, CA Annunciation: Sacramento, CA Resurrection: Castro Valley, CA

Oli Mazi Oli Mazi / Competition

Toni-Marie

Assumption: Long Beach, CA 2|Page

Registration Director of Registration Director of Registration Registration Registration Registration Registration Registration / Social Media

Christine Alexopoulos Vaso Rahimzadeh Tia Karapoulios Anthony Bussa Pete Tsolis Evangelia Gryparis Katherine Rotas

Workshops Workshops

Elizabeth Kratsas Anastasia Demetriou

Assumption: Long Beach, CA Ascension: Oakland, CA Assumption: Long Beach, CA Assumption: Long Beach, CA St. John: Las Vegas, NV St. Spyridon: San Diego, CA Annunciation: Sacramento, CA

Workshops Ascension: Oakland, CA Ascension: Oakland, CA

2019 Review: The 43rd annual Greek Orthodox Folk Dance & Choral Festival (FDF) took place February 14-17, 2019 in Ontario, CA. The Opening Ceremony, Dance Competition, Choral Competition, Division 3 exhibition, Chapel Services, Workshops and Awards Banquet took place at the Ontario Convention Center. Participants roomed at a variety of hotels that surround the Convention Center: • • •

DoubleTree by Hilton Ontario Airport Residence Inn by Marriott Ontario Airport Holiday Inn by IHG Ontario Airport

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Ontario Gateway Hotel Azure Hotel & Suites Ontario Airport Folk Inn Ontario Airport

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS: • • • • •

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43,000 meals packaged at the Diakonia (service) project, coordinated by the Metropolis of San Francisco Philoptochos Society in support of Rise Against Hunger. Over 25 Metropolis Clergy were in attendance at the Opening Ceremony, participating with His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos in the Agiasmos Ceremony. Opneing Ceremony featured two special video greetings: o His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew o President of Greece – Prokopis Pavlopoulos $25,000 raised for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN in honor of the children of our Metropolis who have been battling cancer $10,000 donated to support Hellenic College and Holy Cross. $5,100 Collected at Sunday morning liturgy and the sum was doubled by FDF in honor of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios. $10,000 awarded in academic scholarships. 10 scholarships given to FDF participants continuing their education. Choral Participation Increased to 11 Choral Groups!

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THEME: “STAND” was

selected as the theme for FDF 2019. This was to represent the ways in which we as Orthodox Christians contend, defend, resist, protect and cherish the blessings in our life. Many of the participants embraced the theme and had the opportunity to respond to the question, “What do you STAND for?” Faith, Family, Friends, were amongst the many different replies. Approaching FDF 2019 our Management Team learned of a young lady, Sophia Kaplanis, from St. Nicholas in Northridge. Sophia has been back and forth from Southern California to Memphis, TN during the last 36 months is a battle with cancer. In August Sophia committed herself to dancing at FDF 2019, in her words, “NO MATTER WHAT!” The FDF Management Team championed her courage and set out to raise awareness of Childhood Cancer and created a “STAND with Sophia” Campaign. The days leading into FDF we learned of another young lady, from Anahiem, CA, that was recently diagnosed with leukemia. The STAND with Sophia Campaign was a way to increase our responsiveness to the challenge of cancer that our young people endure. Special “STAND with Sophia” T-shirts were printed and sold. The proceeds from those sales were donated to St. Jude’s in Memphis, TN in honor of the youth in our Metropolis that participate at FDF while combatting this ailment. With the sales of the shirts, and outright, philanthropic monetary donations, $25,000.00 was raised and will be sent to St. Jude’s.

PARISHES IN ATTENDANCE: St. John the Baptist Holy Trinity Church Of The Holy Cross St. Demetrios Sts. Constantine and Helen Resurrection Holy Trinity St. George Saint Katherine St. George Sts. Constantine and Helen St. Achillios Saint John the Baptist Assumption St. Sophia Cathedral Nativity of Christ Annunciation St. Nicholas

Anaheim, CA Phoenix, AZ Belmont, CA Camarillo, CA Cardiff by the Sea Castro Valley, CA Clearwater, FL Downey, CA Elk Grove, CA Fresno, CA Honolulu, HI LARISSA, Greece Las Vegas, NV Long Beach, CA Los Angeles, CA Marin County, CA Modesto, CA Northridge, CA

Description Competing Dance Groups Division III Dance Groups Division IV Dance Groups Competing Choral Groups Total Groups

Ascension Cathedral Saint Anthony Holy Trinity Cathedral Holy Trinity St. Katherine Annunication Prophet Elias St. Spyridon Annunciation Cathedral Holy Trinity Saint Nicholas St. Basil Assumption/St. Katherine Assumption St. Katherine St. Demetrios St Nicholas St. Demetrios

Oakland, CA Pasadena, CA Phoenix, AZ Portland, OR Redondo Beach, CA Sacramento, CA San Bernardino, CA San Diego, CA San Francisco, CA San Francisco, CA San Jose, CA San Juan Capistrano Scottsdale/Chandler Scottsdale/Chandler Seattle, WA Tacoma, WA Tucson, WA

Group Count 83 17 1 11 112

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FDF 2019 LIVE STREAM PRODUCTION: Our target population is everyone around the world that wants to experience our Greek Heritage and Culture through the ministry that we all know and love. With the ability to archive widely researched performances, this platform can serve as a library or database for people interested in learning more about our Greek Heritage and Culture. FDF should someday be viewed as a way to connect Greeks on a Global scale and at the same time serve as a way for those to view that cannot physically attend FDF, due to either geographical or physical reasons. If any of our alumni are not able to attend, this gives them the opportunity to participate.

I. FDF Live Stream events in 2019 and Data since inception in 2017 as of 2/22/2019 * * * *

Subscribers: 1,536 (increased 470 week leading up to FDF) Total video uploads: 59 streams/archived events Total watching minutes: 1,608,856 Total views: 171,378

II. Top Viewed Events this year: 2019 Awards 2019 Adv. Senior 2019 Adv. Inter 2019 Opening Ceremony 2019 Church Liturgy

123,220 mins 120,674 mins 30,519 mins 16,060 mins 8,455 mins

5,014 views (blocked because of music on montage video) 7,653 views 2,886 views 2,005 views 1,337 views

III. FDF's geographic reach: Country USA Greece Canada Australia UK Germany Mexico

minutes 1,309,460 65,215 16,531 6,702 1,200 609 550

views 136,950 62,215 16, 531 559 126 102 55

Something also of note, there was a spike in views Sept 2018 through Nov 2018 likely indicating that people are using our archived videos for research. The benefit in reviewing past content would indicate what scored well and what didn't. It is a great way to research costumes and study timing etc. Lastly, we aren't even using YouTube premium which would open more doors and increase production quality.

DIAKONIA For the 3rd consecutive year, FDF partnered with the Metropolis Ladies of Philoptochos and harnessed the “power of FDF.” Taking full advantage of the presence and excitement of the participants, Jeannie Ranglas, President of the Metropolis of San Francisco Ladies of Philoptochos, together with our Management Team members, Eleni Beckas, Angela Woerz, and Dr. Alexandra (Spirtos) Mantas organized a full-fledged DIAKONIA (service) Project. The goal to create 43,000 meal packages was accomplished before Opening Ceremony. FDF participants were assigned a variety of tasks, from filling bags with food to sealing those food bags to counting and packaging. No one was too young, and no one was too old to lend a helping hand. It has become a highlight of the ministry to watch all the cross-generational event take place. It was truly 5|Page

moving to watch a grandmother fill a bag with her 5-year old granddaughter and a new mother hoisting her 6month-old child in a front pack as she packed food for those less fortunate. Teenage boys did a lot of heavy lifting, and so did their female counterparts!

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WORKSHOP REVIEW: Highlights: • 18 successful workshops • Over a thousand participants • Lots of positive feedback from participants, parents and presenters Attendance: ● 22 workshops held between Friday and Saturday ● 1,377 participated (dancers, siblings and parents) ● All groups attended ● Fridays total attendance: 409 ● Saturdays total attendance: 623 ○ Fr. Jim’s weekend attendance: 345 ○ Largest workshop was 172 people 12 | P a g e

METROPOLIS and ARCHDIOCESE MINISTRIES Supported by FDF: • • • • • • • • • • •

Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Oratorical Festival Metropolis Philoptochos Elios Society Young Adult Lenten Retreat Metropolis Youth Ministries Christian Education Summer Camp at Saint Nicholas Ranch Young Adult National Convention Greek Village Family Wellness

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Saint Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center Metropolis Ministries/ Strategic Plan Church Music Federation Missions and Evangelism Hellenic Educational and Culture Committee Orthodox Leadership Development/Parish Strategic Planning Faith Forward Ionian Village Project Mexico

FDF APP The FDF Management Team is blessed with very creative and ingenious young adults. For several years now, Alexandra Schwenke has been organizing and implementing the FDF app. The app is available for free on several platforms. Users can access daily schedules, competition schedules, workshop information, liturgical services, meal times and much more. A great component of the FDF App is the ability to send push notifications to participants sharing the most up to date information with them.

THANOS PETRELIS CONCERT A relationship was developed with Thanos Petrelis, a Greek Pop-Star, at FDF 2009, also hosted in Ontario, CA. Seeing that we found ourselves in Ontario, Ca ten whole years later, we thought it would be fun to reunite with our old friend. Mr. Petrelis performed on Saturday night, February 16 to a full crowd and appealed to both those young and old. The event was made available for all to attend, whether they were FDF 2019 participants or if they were just fans of the Greek Star.

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FAITH, HOPE & LOVE Devout Greek Orthodox Christian Filmmaker, Robert Krantz, shared a special sneak peek screening of his new film, FAITH, HOPE, & LOVE on Friday evening, February 15, 2019. The film opens nationwide March 15-17, 2019 and has a very special message. At the FDF screening this film was met with such great success that an encore screening was presented on Sunday afternoon. FAITH, HOPE, & LOVE is a heartwarming romantic comedy about two vulnerable, lost souls (Robert Krantz and Peta Jane Murgatroyd) who have each suffered deep losses and have their guards up, as a result. When they enter a dance contest, their lives connect, and they begin to discover new perspectives on life, love, and faith. Robert Krantz was in attendance for the film on Friday evening and returned on Saturday, February 16 to host a workshop for the FDF participants. He shared stories about production and encouraged everyone to return to their homes and prepare all to view the film at their local theater during the weekend of March 15-17, 2019. Check local listings and please support this project.

FDF and Project Mexico LENTEN CHALLENGE: In the spirit of DIAKONIA (service) and Great Lent, FDF Project Mexico to encouraged and challenged every dance group to contirbute to the needs of Project Mexico. See the flier below for more information.

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FAQs: • •

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When is FDF 2020? o President’s Day Weekend: Thursday, February 13- 17, 2020 What is the cost per person to run the Festival? o The two main components that determine the cost per person at FDF are food and audio visual. There are very few conventions that host two meals a day (lunch and dinner) for its participants. Each participant registered for a Full Package with meals includes receives a total of five (5) buffet meals, as well as a plated dinner at the Awards Banquet/Ceremony Sunday evening. Audio Visual expenses include, but are not limited to: stage set-up and tear-down, cameras, judging tables/risers, lighting, aesthetics, labor for sound engineers and technicians, in-room projection screens, live-stream costs, and sound checks for the amount of live music proposed instead of recorded music. Preparations are being made with venues for the next several years.

ANTENNA 1 FDF 2019 enjoyed the presence and partnership of Antenna 1 Television. A crew from the station was present during the weekend to prepare a 40-minute segment to be broadcasted on their Channel. The program will include interviews with His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Geron of America, His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos, Metropolis of San Francisco, dancers, directors and many other participants. More information will be distributed when the production is completed.

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