2017 Festival Information

About the Festival

Introduced in 1983, the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival provides Greek Orthodox teenagers the opportunity to write and talk about their faith. The Oratorical Festival Program begins at the parish level and is divided into three divisions:

Elementary Division (local festival only) for students in grades 4–6
Junior Division for students in grades 7–9
Senior Division for student in grades 10–12

The top speakers in the Junior and Senior Divisions advance to the district level. Two finalists in each district division represent the district at the Metropolis Oratorical Festival. The top speaker in each metropolis division is then selected to participate in the Archdiocese Finals, which is hosted by a different metropolis each year.

All eighteen finalists at the Archdiocese Finals participate in a weekend of activities, the highlight of which is the delivery of their speeches on Saturday morning. The Oratorical Festival Scholarship Fund provides college scholarships to the top speakers. In 2015, the top three speakers of each division received college scholarships of $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000. This year, each Honorable Mention speaker was awarded $500.

Presvytera Margaret Orfanakos serves as the Archdiocese Festival Chairperson.

National Festival

The 34th National Oratorical Festival will be hosted by the Metropolis of Boston and the Parish of Annunciation Woburn, MA on June 9-11, 2017.

The 33rd National Oratorical Festival was hosted by the Metropolis of Atlanta and the Parish of St. Nektarios in Charlotte, NC on June 10-12, 2016. Click on the News Release to read about the weekend and check out page 21 of the September 2016 issue of the Orthodox Observer to read the top speeches!

FAITH: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism Awards

Each finalist receives an additional scholarship award from FAITH: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism as part of its grant to the Archdiocese. FAITH has made these awards to Oratorical Festival Finalists since 2007. We are grateful to the Founders ofFAITH for their generous support of the youth of our Archdiocese and the Finalists of the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival.

The Chrysostom Scholarship for Hellenic College

NEW! Beginning with the 2015 St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival, each Senior and Junior division first, second, and third place finalist in each category (Oratory, Poetry, and Essay) at the parish, district, metropolis, and national levels of competition is eligible to receive a Chrysostom Scholarship to Hellenic College. This scholarship has been amended to provide awards ranging from $2,500 up to $30,000 per year. Please download the terms and conditions to view the award structure.

Information for SJCOF Chairpersons

Preparing for a Local Oratorical Festival

The Holy Resurrection Greek Orthodox Church in Brookville, NY, has held one of the more successful Oratorical Festival programs in our Archdiocese. A key to their success has been excellent organization and ongoing contact by the festival's chairperson with everyone involved at the local level, as well as with the District, Metropolis, and Archdiocese.

The Department is very grateful to Mrs. Vivian Casil for sharing a set of downloadable (pdf) letters and handouts used by the Resurrection parish that you might find helpful as you organize your parish Oratorical Festival.


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