2012 marks the 28th year the Martin Luther King Unity Committee has put on this event.
Sunday's program included prayer and several speakers, including former Oakland A's baseball player Terrance Frazier.
Organizers say this year's theme is "Let Freedom Ring For Healing The American Dream."
"He's going to be talking about how do we heal that American dream, and how do we do it with one another and how do we do it in the same spirit as the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King. That's a very important part of this," Julia Dudley-Najib of the Martin Luther King Committee said.
The service ran until 6:30. Organizers asked people to bring canned food for donations.
Hundreds of people are expected in Downtown Fresno on Sunday to honor Doctor King's legacy.
The annual memorial march will begin at 9:15 at St. John's Cathedral.
The march will go from there to Tulare Street and down Tulare Street to P Street, where marchers will stop at City Hall.
Then it will continue to Fresno Street and will end at Fresno and N at the Veterans Memorial Hall.
An event will begin there at 10:45.
