OXI Day Hellenic Presidential Guards (Evzones)

14 September 2026

Sydney and Canberra will host the Hellenic Presidential Guard during OXI Day Week 2026. Save the date!

Sydney, Australia — Sydney and Canberra will host members of the Hellenic Presidential Guard, known as the Evzones, from 22 to 29 October 2026 for a week of commemorations marking OXI Day and the enduring bond between Greece and Australia.

The Hellenic Presidential Guard will take part in official and community events in both cities. The Sydney program is hosted by the Hellenic Club Sydney, with generous support and sponsorship from the NSW Government, as part of a week-long celebration of Hellenic heritage. The celebration will also include the Club’s Centenary Gala Ball, to be held on Saturday, 24 October 2026.

On 28 October, the Hellenic Club of Canberra will proudly sponsor the Presidential Guard’s visit to Canberra. The Greek Orthodox Community and Church of Canberra (GOCCC) will host the Guard at Australian Parliament House and at other commemorative events across the national capital, culminating in a reception at the Hellenic Club.

The Evzones are the ceremonial infantry unit of the Hellenic Republic. They stand guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma Square and at the Presidential Mansion in Athens, and represent Greece at national commemorations at home and abroad. The Hellenic Club Sydney previously hosted the Guard in Sydney in 2016, 2017, 2019, and April 2025. This will be the first time the Guard visits Australia’s National Capital, Canberra.

The visit is timed to coincide with OXI Day, 28 October — the anniversary of Greece’s rejection of Mussolini’s ultimatum. In the early hours of 28 October,1940, Italian Ambassador Emanuele Grazzi presented Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas with demands that Axis forces be allowed to occupy strategic points on Greek soil. Metaxas refused. The Greek people took to the streets with the word “Óchi” — “No.” Greece’s subsequent stand on the Albanian front delivered the first Allied land victory against the Axis in Europe.

That stand drew Allied forces into Greece's defence. In April 1941, the Second Anzac Corps was formed in Macedonia. In 1941, some 34,000 Australians and New Zealanders fought alongside Hellenic forces at Vevi, Tempe, Thermopylae/Brallos and on Crete. Royal Australian Navy ships also served in Greek waters, including in later operations in the Aegean. Some 1,686 Anzacs from both world wars have been laid to rest in Greece. In 2026, the commemorations fall on the 86th anniversary of OXI Day and the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Crete. The presence of the Evzones at the Cenotaph will honour that shared sacrifice and the ideals for which Australians and Hellenes have fought side by side.

A detailed public schedule will be released in the coming weeks. Members of the Greek-Australian community, veterans’ organisations, schools, and the wider public will be invited to take part.

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