DETROIT – Detroit’s 20th annual Greek Independence Day Parade was held this year on April 10 in the city’s famous Greektown. The fine weather helped draw a great crowd to commemorate 201 years of Greek independence from Ottoman oppression.

Parade organizer Lou Pavledes spoke with WWJ Newsradio 950 prior to the parade noting that everyone was “really hyped” for the event. He told WWJ that “it’s a big deal for not just Greektown, but the entire downtown area.”

“It’s not a real long parade, but it’s just something that we want to do to not only keep within the Greektown borders, essentially, but also because people then will file into the different restaurants and so forth,” Pavledes told WWJ.

His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America was welcomed by Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit and members of the community at the Somerset Inn Hotel in Troy, MI on April 9. On Sunday, His Eminence presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Annunciation Cathedral in Detroit and then participated in the Greek Independence Day Parade which began at 3 PM.

Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and his family were among the guests attending the parade which was followed by a street festival in Greektown.