The Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia’s (GOCSA) Neoléa (Youth) Committee has won the coveted Best Stall Award at this year’s Mosaic Festival in Adelaide, recognised for its creativity, cultural storytelling, and community spirit.
The Neoléa team faced the challenge of capturing the richness of Greek culture in a single stall. Their answer was to recreate the yiayia’s saloni, grandmother’s living room, a space that has long embodied the warmth, hospitality, and traditions of Greek family life.
Yiayia’s saloni was more than just a room. It was where stories flowed late into the night over Greek coffee, where lace tablecloths and embroidered cushions spoke of memory and love, and where guests were always greeted with kerasma (κέρασμα), something sweet to make them feel welcome.
Festival visitors stepped into this recreated living room, treated to homemade Greek sweets and vanilia (ipovrichio, the traditional “submarine” spoon sweet).
“Just as in a Greek home, this act of sharing was our way of saying welcome, come in, you are part of our family,” the Neoléa team explained.
A stall born of memory and conversation
“This year, we recreated the spirit of our yiayiades’ living rooms,” said Chloe Katopodis, Neoléa committee member.
“Our stall was curated from our own memories and shaped by conversations within the Neoléa community. It was about honouring where we come from, while sharing that experience with the broader South Australian community.”
Visitors not only admired the carefully crafted details but also experienced how heritage is kept alive through hospitality and connection. The stall became less an exhibit and more a cultural time capsule.
Festival organisers were deeply moved by the impact.
“My team and I were left speechless after Saturday night,” said Lenard Sciancalepore, CEO of MOSAIC Adelaide Inc.
“We, and the audience, felt every emotion under the sun. It was very moving, I lost count of how many times I cried!
“I had audience members write to me after saying ‘This is the Australia I want to live in.’ And they couldn’t be more correct. This is South Australia. This is us. This is a part of who we are and we are so proud to have created magic together with so many communities. We stand united and we can’t wait for next year, we’ve already started planning!”
For Neoléa, the award is not just recognition but affirmation that the Greek Australian story resonates widely. The group thanked its volunteers, community, and festival visitors for helping bring “Yiayia’s Saloni” to life and invited everyone to continue the conversation, “one coffee and one memory at a time.”
