The Pappas Post team has been invited by the Pontian Society of the Southeast, based in Atlanta, Georgia, to the Pan-Pontian Youth Cultural and Folkloric Festival. It will be a weekend full of music, dance and traditions with workshops on Pontian language, cooking, singing, dancing, and culture.

Who are the Pontians?

They are an ethnically Greek people who inhabited the shores of the Black Sea, called Efxinos Pontos in Greek (thus their name) but were forced to flee in the early 1900s following massacres and ethnic cleansing that was part of a bigger systematic genocide of the ethnic Greek and Armenian populations in what is today, modern Turkey.

It’s a testament to these people’s connection to their roots that Pontians continue to thrive today— wherever they were dispersed. Pontian societies exist throughout Greece and most of the world, with large concentrations throughout the United States, Canada and Australia.

What’s even more special about these people— particularly the youth who are now part of the 3rd and 4th generation of diaspora Pontians is that unlike other Greeks, they have no “homeland” to connect with.

Their ancestors were forced to leave their homes and villages and flee to foreign lands— yet their language, their dances, their food and culture has survived— whether it’s in Melbourne, or New York… or Atlanta.

The Pappas Post team will be present, meeting and documenting the events taking place and we’re excited to share everything with our readers throughout the weekend.

In addition to posting on our website, we’ll also be live tweeting special moments on our Twitter page, and also posting on our Facebook and Instagram pages, as well.

As the man’s t-shirt states in the photo on this post, Pontos indeed lives.