FAYETTEVILLE -- The annual Greek Festival wrapped up celebrations in Fayetteville today.

The three-day festival featuring food, music and dancing started Friday night.

The sights, sounds and smells of Greece have found a home in Fayetteville every September for the past 18 years. Linda Hughes first started enjoying them in 1993.

"This is probably as close to Greece as I am going to get," Hughes said. "We like to stay for the dancing, when they have the kids dancing ... that is always fun."

The festival is a fundraiser for Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church. The church raised more than $46,000 at last year’s festival.

Other highlights of the festival were a wine tasting and Greek cooking classes. Cape Fear Valley Hospital was also on-site to offer free blood pressure readings, cholesterol checks and blood sugar readings.

Organizers said portions of the proceeds are given away to charities like the Autism Society and the American Red Cross.

Organizer Alfred Barefoot said the festival wouldn't happen without the work of volunteers.

"They are here all day, every day," Barefoot said. "They are working very hard and doing the best they can to make this event successful."

And this festival does more than just raise money. Members of the church like Ana Yiotos said it helps by sharing their culture with the rest of the community by "exposing them to another culture, and getting the history behind it and the foods."

Although some people might find names for the food to be a tongue twister, the taste is what brings Hughes to the plate.

"Just the different flavors, the Greek flavors that we normally don't get," Hughes said. "Even going to the Greek restaurants, they don't always do the lamb that we come for especially."