Thousands of people attended the Greek Independence Day Parades in Philadelphia and Detroit on Sunday.
Evzones Presidential Guards from Greece in their traditional guard uniforms also joined the parades, performing their signature ceremonial marches.
The Philadelphia event took place on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and saw the best Greek groups from Philadelphia, South Jersey and Delaware march down the boulevard with their floats, banners, and of course Greek flags, under traditional Greek music.
Drake and Maria Behrakis served as the Grand Marshalls of this year’s Greek parade.
In Detroit, the Greek parade was held on Monroe Street in Historic Greektown Detroit, in the presence of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas.
Tony Manolias was this year’s Grand Marshall for the city’s Greek Parade.
The Greek Independence Day celebration weekend started on Friday, with the flag raising ceremony at Philadelphia’s City Hall.
The event was joined by His Eminence, Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey, the Evzones Presidential Guard of Greece, local religious leaders, federal, state, and local representatives, dignitaries from Greece, and other honorable guests.
The flag raising was followed by a special performance by a traditional Greek dance group.
“Thank you to the City of Philadelphia for allowing us to celebrate our Culture with the annual Flag Rasing ceremony and the proclamation acknowledging 204 years of Greek Independence,” the Federation of Hellenic-American Societies of Philadelphia and Greater Delaware Valley wrote on Facebook.
On Saturday, the black-tie Eleftheria Gala featured a premier dinner and fundraiser for the community. It started with a one-hour cocktail reception and auction, followed by the introduction of the dais, welcome remarks, a presentation of the Presidential Guard of Greece, a presentation of the 2025 Parade Grand Marshals, and the presentation of the 2025 Eleftheria Medal.
This year’s Eleftheria Medal recipient was Caterina Papoulias-Sakellaris.
The evening concluded with a mini-concert by the legendary Atlantis of Philadelphia, featuring Greek-American international artist, Kalomira.
The last day of the Philadelphia Greek Independence Day celebration weekend started with a Sunday morning Doxology at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, as thousands gathered along Benjamin Franklin Parkway boulevard to watch the main event.
The Greek parade featured church parishes, organizations, Greek Dance groups, schools, and businesses.
The celebration weekend concluded with an official after-party at Philadelphia’s Uptown Beer Garden.
In Detroit, the Hellenic Museum of Michigan hosted the Evzones Presidential Guard and His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos of Ioannina for a Meet and Greet reception on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s Greek Independence Day celebrations.
A Doxology took place at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in the presence of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit, His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos of Ioannina and the Presidential Guard of the Hellenic Republic before the parade started at 3pm.
The Greek diaspora in New York was the first to honour Greek Independence Day with a parade on March 30.
The Greek state celebrates Greek Independence on March 25 to commemorate the 1821 revolution to emancipate Greeks from 400 years of oppression under Ottoman rule.
