Detroit Greek Independence Day Parade

Detroit’s annual Greek Independence Day parade took place on Sunday, April 6, 2008. A United Hellenic community celebrated the Greek Independence Day with a Doxology at the Annunciation Cathedral followed by the parade and ceremony at the heart of Greektown. For the seventh year in a row, the parade set an attendance record, with close to 20,000 marchers and spectators attending from Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario.

The famous Evzones and Amalies group from the Holy City of Mesolonggi, Greece and its Mayor Yannis Athanasopoulos, 14 Greek Orthodox churches, 19 Hellenic organizations, 3 University Hellenic student groups, seven Greek dancing groups in full costume marched in the parade, which was led the by 7 Honorary Grand Marshall recipients of the 1st Hellenic Heritage Awards, Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit, Michigan State Senator John Pappageorge, Representatives Bob Constan and Fran Amos, and other dignitaries.
Participants marched up Monroe Street from Woodward Avenue to the heart of Detroit’s Greektown. Greek hero Alexander the Great led the Macedonian Society of Michigan. The theme of the parade this year was “ Makedonia is Greece”.

After the parade, a ceremony was held at the end of the parade route. Rich Mayk, a longtime Detroit TV personality and parish council member at Assumption of St. Clair Shores, acted as master of ceremonies. The program concluded with a presentation of the flag of the city of Mesologgi to the President of the parade committee Mr. George Reganis and ended by revealing the American flag while a vocalist and the crowed sang god bless American.

The Detroit Greek Independence Day Parade was revived in 2001 after an absence of several decades and is sponsored by the Detroit Greek Independence Day Committee, a non-profit corporation. The committee’s web site can be found at http://detroit.greekparades.com.