Particularly impressive parade for March 25 in New York - Notes of Greece in the heart of Manhattan.

5th Avenue acquired a Greek pulse with the expatriates parading for three hours to the sounds of Greek marches, while a crowd of expatriates and locals attended this event with the aroma of Greece.

“Greece, the birthplace of democracy and a strategic partner of the USA”
The main slogan of the parade was “Greece, the birthplace of democracy and a strategic partner of the USA”, under which dozens of Greek diaspora organizations, federations, communities, schools, student associations, organizations, churches and thousands of citizens dressed in national costumes, holding Greek flags in their hands, filled the streets of New York with blue and white colors, giving a dynamic presence to the most emblematic event of Greeks abroad.

All eyes on the Evzones
The Evzones of the Presidential Guard attracted everyone’s attention, as they paraded proudly and in perfect formation, immediately after the Greek Flag of the Acropolis passed by.

The Greek parade was attended by more than one hundred and twenty organizations with fifty-two floats and 15 philharmonic bands that accompanied the parade and participated in parallel events organized by the Greek diaspora.

This year's parade also featured a dance dedicated to the Tempi tragedy, entitled "Dance 57", paying tribute to the fifty-seven victims of the train accident.

Photos from the anniversary events taken by Dimitris Panagos were posted by the Greek Observer.

Who was at the Greek parade in New York
The parade’s grand marshals were the owner and president of Olympiacos FC, Vangelis Marinakis, the first Greek-American four-star General of the US Army and commander of US forces, Andrew Poppas, and His Eminence Metropolitan of Patras, Chrysostomos.

Honorary marshals were the actor and director Christoforos Papakaliatis, as well as the three-time Olympic gold medalist Pyrros Dimas.

Official guests included, among others, PASOK President Nikos Androulakis, Second Vice President of the Hellenic Parliament Georgios Georgantas, Western Greece Regional Governor Nektarios Farmakis, North Aegean Regional Governor Konstantinos Moutzouris and Tilos Mayor Maria Aliferi-Kamma.

The US Congress was represented, among others, by Representatives Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Mike Lawler, Nicole Malliotaki and Senator Charles Schumer. State Senators Lou Raptakis and Michael Giannaris were also present.

The annual Greek parade was organized under the auspices of the Federation of Greek Organizations of New York, with Philip Christopher leading the effort.

Greek associations from New Jersey, Connecticut and Canada also participated.

According to the organizers' newsletter:

Major Benefactor: Former U.S. Ambassador to Greece George Tsounis

Other Benefactors: Holy Archdiocese of America, Internova Travel Group, EMBCA President Lou Katsos, PSEKA President Philip Christopher, Libra Group President George Logothetis, Red Apple Group President John Catsimatidis, AHEPA - President Savvas Tsivikos

As reported by members of the diaspora, the Greek minority is one of the few minorities in the country that has been granted permission for 86 years to organize a parade.