International Festival of Satire and Humor organized in Uzhhorod

by Vasyl Pawlowsky
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

UZHHOROD, Ukraine - Over the weekend of July 10-11, under sunny skies and warm temperatures, the First International Festival of Satire and Humor, dubbed "Karpatskyi Slovoblud," was held at Detsa u Notaria (which loosely translated means A Drink at the Notary's) in Uzhhorod, a restaurant that has gathered somewhat of a cult following due to the great food, hospitality and pleasant atmosphere created by its owner.

The festival brought together close to 500 humorists, satirists and guests from throughout the Carpathian region. Participants came from Poland, Slovakia and Serbia making the festival clearly regional, both geographically and ethno-linguistically, as many of the participants presented in their own dialects of the Ukrainian language.

"The whole idea of this festival was to encourage the development of our language and humor, regardless of the different dialects we speak. Actually the seed that was planted nearly two years ago while chatting with Serhii Naboka and Oleksander Kryvenko has finally sprouted and we hope it will grow," the festival's organizer, Pavlo Chuchka, who also is the owner of Detsa u Notaria told The Weekly. (Mr. Naboka passed away in January 2003, and Mr. Kryvenko passed away in April 2003.)

"Furthermore, humor has always played a role in Ukrainian society, as a way of coping with the problems we have faced and continue to face today in our young and independent Ukraine," he added.

"I am glad that Pavlo has started something like this here in the region," Yevhen Dudar, well-know Ukrainian humorist and member of the panel of judges told The Ukrainian Weekly. As the first festival of its type in the region, it was not without some problems, however. "There definitely has to be some type of pre-selection leading up to the festival. What we had was a marathon! But at the same time we saw some extremely talented individuals present themselves," Mr. Dudar added.

The festival was divided into three competitive sections, with different time limitations. The first, "People's Author," allowed 20 minutes for competitors to present their original material in prose, verse, music or a series of miniatures. The second section - whose theme was "Ukrainians - to the moon!" - was limited to between five and 10 minutes and was simply joke telling. The third section had a wedding theme, where the "starosta," or master of ceremonies, was to keep people entertained during a mock wedding celebration. Mr. Chuchka explained: "We all know that weddings are a time for celebration, and it's during our celebrations that we often hear a great deal of traditionally comical lines."

Indeed, the festival was a marathon. Having started later than planned, the festival was drawn out and it was not until well after midnight that a decision was announced. The head of the judges panel, actor and humorist Les Poderevlianskyi, announced that Mykola Horniak of Slovakia was awarded the grand prix. "It wasn't easy to select the winner. We had to at times simply rate the competitors based on the reaction of the audience, and clearly Mr. Horniak had the audience laughing the hardest," Mr. Poderevelianskyi said during the announcement of the winners.

"We have learned from this experience," said Mr. Chuchka prior to the awards ceremony held on the second day. "We will work on improving the selection, and ensuring that everyone is kept laughing when they come to the festival next year," he added.

In addition to the judges' selection of top humorists on Saturday, members of the audience had an opportunity to choose their favorite humorist on Sunday afternoon. Mr. Dudar added, "While there were some organizational problems, there is one young man who caught the attention of the entire audience - the youngest participant from Rakhiv, 15-year-old Ihor Ivaniv." Mr. Ivaniv received a warm round of applause, while Mr. Dudar presented him with his own two-volume set of humor, encouraging the young man to continue with his writing and develop his talent further; he even offered to act as the young man's mentor.

Mr. Dudar also invited Mr. Horniak to participate next year in a Festival of Humor and Satire in Kyiv to be held, quite appropriately, on April 1.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, July 25, 2004, No. 30, Vol. LXXII

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