On Thursday, March 25, 2021, The Pappas Post and Greektown Chicago live-premiered a virtual celebration of the Greek Independence Day bicentennial via Facebook Live and YouTube with thousands of viewers.
This virtual event included a dynamic history of Chicago’s Greek American community with stories from prominent Chicagoans and archival photos highlighting the city’s Greek Independence Day celebrations and parades over the past 126 years — plus a special crowd-sourced video montage of images and memories from families across Chicagoland.
Our video culminated with a performance from The Voice of Greece, Glykeria, who performed an original rendition of the iconic Greek parade song “Na’tane To 21” (Let It Be 1821) which was accompanied by a photo and video montage.
Glykeria created two versions of the song for this project — one standard and one acoustic — each of which can be heard in their respective standalone music videos that we’ve uploaded on YouTube. See the videos at the bottom of this article.
We offer special thanks to the hundreds of Chicagoans who submitted their parade photos and videos to be featured in this project. We also thank each of the following interviewees who shared their stories on camera:
- Maria Pappas, Cook County Treasurer
- Dean Richards, Entertainment Reporter and Critic for WGN TV & Host at WGN Radio
- Anna Davlantes, Host at WGN Radio
- Susanna Homan, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher of Chicago Magazine
- Dan Mihalopoulos, Investigative Reporter at WBEZ Radio
- Dr. Angeline Beltsos, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Vios Fertility Institute
- Judge Peggy Chiampas, Circuit Court of Cook County
- Dr. George Chiampas, Chief Medical Officer, U.S. Soccer/Men’s National Team
- Judge Anna Demacopoulos, Circuit Court of Cook County
- Bishop Demetrios, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
- Dr. Young Richard Kim, Associate Professor and Head of Classics & Mediterranean Studies at UIC
- Marianthi Koritsaris, Principal/Director of Curriculum & Instruction at Plato Academy
- Dimitra Korri, Four-time Greek National Figure Skating Champion
- George Reveliotis, Greektown SSA Commissioner and Owner of Artopolis Bakery, Cafe & Agora
- Endy Zemenides, Executive Director of Hellenic American Leadership Council
Special thanks also goes to Alexandra Loutsion for her rendition of the Greek National Anthem and multi-instrumentalist Dimitrios Dallas for his performance of the song “Deka Palikaria.”
Watch the full virtual celebration
“Na’tane To 21” Featuring Glykeria
“Na’tane To 21” (Acoustic Version) Featuring Glykeria
