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Trust us. If you’ve never been, you have a treat in store. However, if you’ve participated, over the years, in the LA Greek Fest on the Grand Plaza Grounds of the revered Saint Sophia Cathedral, you know what a wonderful September event it is. Again, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson will be the guest hosts for this 12th annual extravaganza scheduled for the weekend evenings of September 10, 11, 12. Not only grown ups but youngters have a grand time, and those under 12 are admitted gratis all weekend long. LA Magazine hails it as “must see, must do.”

“This year celebrates A Taste of Greece, with homemade Greek favorites, prepared by our parishioners,” inform Jan and Ted Pastras, directors of the fest’s executive committee. “Specialties from Athens and the Aegean islands. Our Food Court offers homemade moussaka, pastitsio (a Greek-style lasagna), dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), tiropites (cheese turnovers), spanakotiropites (spinach-cheese turnovers), and that delicious vegetable stew briami. The Taverna features appetizers such as calamari, saganaki (flaming cheese), loukanika (sausages from specialist Bobby). At the Greek Sports Bar you’ll find mini lamb chops and feta fries, and the Greek Dinner Booth serves lamb or roast chicken with Greek salad.”

Not to be missed are the sweets, especially the loukomades, best described as Greek beignets. Thirst-quenchers are everywhere – homemade lemonade, margaritas, Greek beers and wines.

At the fest’s official opening on Friday night, the Zorba Contest takes over with leaping Zorba-esque dancers – it’s scheduled for 8:30 PM. Live Greek music with renowned bouzouki artist Alex Galas and other musicians plays over on weekends, with cooking demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in St. Basil’s Hall.

Jimmy Karatsikis and Fay Demetriou conduct church tours, and children perform Greek dances on both days (check www.lagreekfest.com/schedule for the time slots). By popular demand, there’s a Greek Dancing Workshop. On Saturday and Sunday, Conversations with the Ancients includes artists trained in pantomime who recreate the Golden Age of Greece by bringing classic Greek statues to life.

“We welcome one and all to the Fest and our beautiful Cathedral to experience Greek hospitality and the warm heart of Los Angeles,” says the Very Rev. John Bakas, Dean of the Cathedral, acknowledging the continuing sponsorships of 20th Century Fox, SIGNQUEST, Paramount Studios, California Produce, Caffe D’Amore, Time Warner Cable, Metaxa/Remy Martin, and Daphne’s Greek Cafes. The Fest supports worthy ministries and charities, philanthropic programs and youth initiatives at the Cathedral.

Free and secure parking is available nearby, and shuttle service is offered continuously. Admission for adults is $3 on Friday night; Saturday and Sunday admission is $5. As we’ve mentioned earlier, children under 12 are admitted without charge.

A national landmark structure, the Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral is located at 1324 S. Normandie at Pico Boulevard. Telephone: (323) 737-2424.

Hands down, HBO, which walked off with eight Emmy awards, continues to host the best after-party at the Pacific Design Center’s outdoor plaza. This year, the area was magically transformed into a jungle paradise, with towering palms and pink and green décor designed by Big Boy Billy Buchkavitz. “A summer safari,” says Billy, describing the color scheme as Very Lilly Pulitzer with hot pink and parrot green. Jungle drummers pounded beats for the bikini-clad dancers.

And how can you not be happy with the culinary surprises that tempt in Wolfgang Puck’s buffets. Carl Schuster is the popular CEO and managing partner of Wolfgang Catering, and we bow to his organizational talents with dozens of staffers passing trays upon trays of the delicious fare that fed more than 1,200 guests. How Carl does it with such consistency and quality remains a mystery. At the buffets, the Peninsula Hotel’s general manager Offer Nissenbaum, with wife Bonnie, shared the good news that July was “the best month ever” for the hotel since its opening 19 years ago.

Pretty Young Things arrived in band-aid dresses right up to whoops – how they manuever, as they do, in those killer heels (that bump up the butt) remains a quandary. Stars paraded in designer creations from Armani Prive, Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, Ali Rahimi, Moniqiue Lhullier, Carolina Herrera, Prada, Versace, Marchesa, Alexander McQueen, Jean Louis Scherrer, Zac Posen, with Glee creator Ryan Murphy donning an emerald green silk jacket with tux trousers from Tom Ford. A veritable Red Carpet Rodeo of Fashion. Claire Danes topped the best-dressed list in her shimmering crystal-beaded gown by Armani Prive, and her hairstyle tops the best-coiffed list (some celebrities chose that tacky Raggedy Ann look).

“I’m developing a film about Brian Epstein, who discovered the Beatles,” informed producer David Permut, looking trim and tanned and admitting he visits a health farm often. Brian Epstein (pronounced Ep-stain) mentioned that what he loved about the Beatles was their musical beat, accompanied with their charm on stage. Here are five roles that actors will covet.

David praised Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds as a must-see when it’s released by Lionsgate in October. “With this performance, Ryan leaps into the stratosphere of top actors … he plays a man buried in a coffin only with a cigarette lighter and telephone. That’s the movie. Mind-blowing. Like a chilling Alfred Hitchcock thriller.”

The party hearty crowd wraps at HBO’s celebration. HBO’s Richard Plepler, Michael Lombardo, Sue Nagle, Kary Antholis, Len Amato, Nancy Lesser, Mara Mikialian greeted arrivals. Coming and going were Emmy-winning Tom Hanks with Rita Wilson, Emmy winner Claire Danes with husband Hugh Dancy, Temple Grandin, who inspired Claire’s film, Emmy-winning Al Pacino with Lucila Sola, Dr. Jack Kavorkian, Julia Ormond, Ricky Gervais, Jerry Ferrara, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jon Voight, Thomas Jane, Anne Heche, Sharon Gless, Jim Parsons, David Straithairn, Larry David, Cheryl Hines, newlyweds Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, Sofia Vergara, Alexander Skarsgard, Bill Maher, Wanda Sykes, Rex Lee, Glenn Close, Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

We met Entourage’s Jonathan Keltz, who replaced Rex Lee as Jeremy Piven’s assistant (Rex moved on into the hallowed halls of agenthood). He and Robbie Amil agreed that movies have been run-of-the-mill this summer, although they were nuts about Inception. They’ve had it with Lady Gaga. Why? “Too much … over the top. Been there, done that.”