Greek Weekend

“We’ve been working once a week for two, two and a half months. We’d start at 9 in the morning and work for about six hours.”

Pam Gonzalez and 19 other women have been preparing an enormous number of pastries for the 8,000 attendees expected at this year’s Greek Festival ’90 in Camarillo.

Hosted by the St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, Friday through Sunday, the festival is a time for feasting and fun. Continuous music, folk dance exhibitions and lessons will be featured, as well as Greek food. And a trip for two to Greece will be given away as a prize.

The Hellenic Sounds of Los Angeles and accordionist Polka Bill will provide the music. Food booths will offer ethnic delicacies. The pastries--30,000 of them--were prepared ahead of time.

“It’s not something you throw together the week before,” said Gonzalez.

Baklava is a favorite. But the most popular is galataboureko , a custard-filled caloric wonder, bathed in a lemony syrup.

“We increased production by 400% over last year to meet the demand.”

St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church is at 400 Skyway Drive, Camarillo. Festival hours: 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. For information, call 482-1273.