First Ukrainian Festival of Metropolitan Washington hailed as a success (12/21/03)

First Ukrainian Festival of Metropolitan Washington hailed as a success

by Dr. Tamara Worbij

WASHINGTON - The Ukrainian community of Washington greeted fall this year with the enormously successful first Ukrainian Festival of Metropolitan Washington, which was held on the grounds of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, in Silver Spring, Md. Over 3,000 people attended the two-day festival on Saturday, and Sunday, September 12-13.

In fact, this year the population of the Baltimore-Washington corridor was exposed to an abundance of Ukrainian culture, with the new Washington festival following one week after the successful and long-running Baltimore Ukrainian Festival.

The idea to bring a festival to Washington was the inspiration of Father Volodymyr Steliac, pastor of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, and Myroslava Semerey, a parishioner, who began thinking about the concept during a discussion following the successful Easter Bazaar. Together the two contacted Valentin Zabijaka, President of the Parish Board of St. Andrew Cathedral, who was in Ukraine at that time, and Andree Filipov, vice-president of the Board. They wholeheartedly supported the idea.

The Embassy of Ukraine was asked to participate and also responded positively. Father Steliac and Mr. Zabijaka then approached the two local Ukrainian Catholic parishes, Holy Trinity Particular Ukrainian Catholic Church, and Holy Family Ukrainian Catholic Shrine, and other Ukrainian community organizations such as The Washington Group, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, the Ukrainian Association of Greater Washington, and Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, inviting each to participate in the festival.

The Ukrainian Festival Committee was formed, with Ms. Semerey and Mr. Filipov as co-chairs. For 10 weeks, committee members met, sorting out details, overcoming obstacles - everything had a steep learning curve. Many people - too many to list individually worked tirelessly, preparing varenyky and freezing them, running a successful publicity and outreach campaign and preparing the physical infrastructure on the church grounds. The optimistic personalities of Mr. Zabijaka, Ms. Semerey, Mr. Filipov and Father Steliac remained undaunted, tackling each crisis (and there were many), and attending to every minute detail behind the scenes.

The festival had three sponsors: Meest Inc., Rinaldi Funeral Home oldest Ukrainian organization in the D.C. area; the Ukrainian Association of Washington.

As the moment approached, tents were put up, parking was organized and 14,000 varenycky, 4,000 cabbage rolls, gallons and gallons of Ukrainian borsch, alongside tables of sweets, sausages and grilled food awaited. An outdoor bar was stocked with two types of Ukrainian beer, home-made medivka and Ukrainian fruit liqueurs, with sour cherry, blueberry and raspberry essences.

Vendors from Canada and the United States, from Montreal and Toronto, from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and even Miami - 24 in all - began setting up their displays under dark skies and in the pouring rain. Dancers and artists began arriving. Everyone looked up with trepidation and hope at the forebading skies. A few hours later the sun came out, and the remainder of the two-day festival was enjoyed under clearing skies.

The opening ceremony took place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 12. In attendance were dignitaries from the U.S. Embassy and the Ukrainian American clergy. In particular, this included Archbishop Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and clergy from area churches. The top embassy official present was Minister Counselor Volodymyr Yatsenkivskyi, deputy chief of mission and charge d'affaires.

Masters of ceremonies for both days were Theophil Staruch and Anya Petrenko. The crowds were entertained by the mesmerizing music of violinist Wasyl Popadiuk, the artistic choreography of the Yevshan Ukrainian Dance Ensemble from Rochester, N.Y., under the direction of Slavko Virlo (who, in order to get to the festival, organized a bus at the last minute at their own cost), the melodic chords of the bandurist trio Namysto, the sonoric voices of tenor Roman Tsymbala and soprano Lesya Hrabova, the beautifully harmonized duo of Lidiya and Gabriella Oros from New York, and the very appealing children's group from the Ukrainian Embassy named Kozachata.

Iryana Rejko from New York wrote a special poem titled "Festival in Washington," which was read at the festival.

The Plast group of Washington had its official opening of the new school year at the festival, and provided several children's activities, including a moon bounce and a children's puppet show, featuring an original puppet play written by Plast leader Darka Nebesh and her father. Other children's activities included a popcorn stand and a cotton candy machine.

On Saturday evening the band Good Day from Philadelphia performed at the zabava which included a full dinner for those who attended, into the early morning hours. Wasyl Popadiuk provided another live concert during the dance.

In addition to the entertainment outdoors, inside there were exhibits of Ukrainian handicrafts. Whether it was the dazzling embroidery of Yurko Melnechuk, from the Oles Honchar Museum in Kyiv, the weaving demonstration by Vera Nakonechna of Philadelphia, the beading display of Olga Kolodij, an icon exhibit of Ms. Semerey, the Ukrainian national costumes of the Julas from Pittsburgh, the ceramics being created by Natalie Kormyliuk of Washington or the Easter egg demonstration by Marika Cooley and Nadija Nowitski, it was clear that there was an abundance of the best of Ukrainian culture.

Amidst all the festivities one could also tour the beautiful interior of St. Andrew Cathedral, which is the first memorial church dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Chornobyl nuclear accident in 1986.

For two days, Ukrainians, American Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians feasted, danced, were entertained and savored the best of Ukrainian culture in the suburbs of the nation's capital. One awaits with excitement next year's festival, the second Ukrainian Festival of Metropolitan Washington, now being planned for September 25-26, 2004.

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