1917 - 2023 What a Journey It Has Been!

This year marks the 106th Anniversary of our community. To fully appreciate our 51st year of the Oakland Greek Festival is to understand the evolution of the Greek community in Oakland, CA, briefly summarized here from the Ascension Historical Society (AHS) website pahh.org.

In the 1890s Greeks had already settled and opened their own businesses in the city of Oakland and its vicinity. By 1914, Greeks with Syrians and Lebanese were celebrating the Divine Liturgy in a rented hall in Oakland with a priest coming from San Francisco to officiate.

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The Hellenic Community of Oakland and Vicinity” was formally chartered by the State of California on February 16, 1917. Four years later, on May 21, 1921, Oakland’s Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption (Dormition) was dedicated at 920 Brush Street. Eventually the community outgrew these facilities in downtown Oakland.

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of Mary Mousalimas, founder of AHS,

Oakland Greek Festival! 1972 - 2023

the church was moved for preservation in 1979 to its current location at 928 Castro Street. It is a designated Oakland landmark and listed on the U.S.A. National Register of Historic Places, as well as a California Historical Landmark.

The doors of the Church of the Ascension in the Oakland hills were opened on December 11, 1960. The parish was later elevated to the status of Cathedral in February 1992.

In October 2017, we proudly celebrated our 100th anniversary and recognized the transitions of our past through today’s Ascension Cathedral.

This year marks the 106th Anniversary of our community. To fully appreciate our 51st year of the Oakland Greek Festival is to understand the evolution of the Greek community in Oakland, CA, briefly summarized here from the Ascension Historical Society (AHS) website pahh.org.