Memorial Day weekend in New Orleans has meant one thing for nearly 50 years: Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Cathedral. The popular ethnic gathering was canceled in 2020 and 2021 out of safety concerns due to the COVID epidemic, but this year’s festivities return to 1200 Allen Toussaint Boulevard along Bayou St. John from Friday, May 27, to Sunday, May 29.

The 2022 theme is “Back to Traditions.” In 1973, when the first New Orleans Greek Festival was held, few could have known it would grow to be one of the the most popular gatherings in the city, hosting more than 23,000 visitors annually.

The festival features plenty of homemade traditional Greek food, wine, and desserts, from the goat burger to the ouzo daiquiri. New this year will be Mythos Greek beer and a wine flight of two red and two white Greek wines.

A live Greek band will play throughout the festival, and traditional Greek dancing performed by Hellenic dancers will keep the good times rolling.

There will be tours of the cathedral, an Athenian playground for children and a Greek grocery with delectable cheeses, dips, spices, and much more.

Here is the schedule of events:

Friday Evening Run/Walk Race

5:30 p.m. — Registration & Packets

6:45 p.m. — 1 Mile Start

7 pm — 5K Start

Hellenic Dancers, Inside Stage

Friday — 7:30 p.m.

Saturday — 3:30 and 7 p.m.

Sunday — 3:30 p.m.

Cathedral Tours

Tours begin at the cathedral’s side entrance. This year, festival organizers will also showcase two new added attractions to its cathedral tours.

One addition presents a special free exhibition space in the Hellenic Cultural Center called the Little Museum of the Little Greek Church. The attraction refers to Holy Trinity’s 19th-century moniker in New Orleans, “Little Greek Church.”

The exhibition commemorates the church’s founders and Orthodox Christian pioneers who anchored Eastern Orthodoxy in the Americas in 1864. The museum will present a collection of more than 100 religious artifacts, photos and historical documents that the community has safeguarded since its beginning when the church was first established on N. Dorgenois Street. This year’s tours will also feature an increased emphasis on Byzantine chanting in English and Greek.

Friday — 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.

Saturday — 1, 3, 5 and 6:30 p.m.

Sunday — 2 and 5 p.m.

Tickets at the gate are $10, and children under 12 are admitted free. Organizers say each ticket purchase will get entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $1,000 door prize. The winner will be announced at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.