NEW YORK – The pre-parade events have been delightful but the Greek-Americans of the New York Metropolitan Area cannot wait for the main event, with tens of thousands expected to turn Fifth Avenue into a sea of blue and white beneath sunny skies and 48 degree temperatures that will seem balmy after a brutal winter.

The highlights of the day before the parade included the annual Greek Traditional Dance Exhibition at the Cretan House in Astoria and the Parade Gala at the New York Hilton which was attended by New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, who will be a grand marshal at the March 29 parade organized by the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, and Panos Kamenos, Greece’s Defense Minister, but there were two additional special ceremonies.

In Astoria, this year’s flag raising ceremony at Athens Square park was the occasion for the revealing of the new statue of the classical Greek playwright Sophocles, and the street in front of Sts. Catherine and George was renamed for Archbishop Iakovos of blessed memory.