A Ukrainian Summer: where to go, what to do...
New York parish to hold street festival
by Taras Schumylowych
NEW YORK - On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 19, 20 and 21, Seventh Street (between Second and Third avenues) will be closed to traffic and open for a celebration by the Ukrainian community of New York City. St. George's Ukrainian Catholic Church is sponsoring its 24th annual street festival, which promises to be the biggest and best yet. The official opening will be on Friday evening.
There will be many booths featuring Ukrainian food - varenyky, kovbasa, holubtsi and home-baked goods - and selling Ukrainian arts and crafts - embroideries, wood carvings, ceramics and traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs, or pysanky.
The famous Ukrainian chorus Dumka, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gala concert at the Great Hall at The Cooper Union, will give a concert in the Church on Sunday, May 21, at 1 p.m. The Dumka Chorus performs under the direction of Maestro Vasyl Hrechynsky.
Festival-goers can enjoy the weekend outdoors, listening to singers and watching those ever-popular Ukrainian dancers with their boundless energy, amazing high jumps and spectacular steps performing the "Hopak" and other folk dances.
All in all, this annual Ukrainian Festival is an excellent opportunity to discover this fascinating ethnic neighborhood in the East Village and the thriving Ukrainian community that has blended its rich cultural traditions into the fabric of New York City life.
Festival hours are: Friday, 4-11 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; and Sunday, 1-10 p.m.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 7, 2000, No. 19, Vol. LXVIII
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