Ukrainian Festival Day proclaimed in Maryland's Montgomery County (11/14/04)

Ukrainian Festival Day proclaimed in Maryland's Montgomery County

by Tamara Woroby

SILVER SPRING, Md. - U.S. Congressman Albert Wynn and Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan attended the opening ceremonies of the Second Ukrainian Festival of the Washington metropolitan area, where Mr. Duncan officially proclaimed Saturday September 24, as Ukrainian Festival Day in Montgomery County. Greetings from Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes were extended to the Ukrainian community.

The Festival was held during the weekend of September 24-25 here, on the grounds of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Over 5,000 people attended the two-day event, which featured Ukrainian food, refreshments, vendors and exhibitors of Ukrainian handicrafts and artwork, as well as performers from North America and Ukraine.

Also in attendance at the official ceremonies were Archbishop Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America; the Pastor of St. Andrew Cathedral, the Rev. Volodymyr Steliac; the Rev. Taras Lonchyna of Holy Trinity Particular Ukrainian Catholic Church in Silver Spring, Md., the Rev. Nestor Iwasiw and Deacon Teophil Staruch of Holy Family Ukrainian Catholic Church; the Rev. Greg Chumak of the Four Evangelists Mission in Bel Air, Md.; Robert Hitchens and Wasyl Kharuk of the Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Washington; and Dr. Serhij Korsunskij deputy chief of mission of the Embassy of Ukraine.

The festival was organized by the Ukrainian Festival Committee, with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine and local Ukrainian church and community organizations, among them Plast and The Washington Group. The co-chairs of the festival were Andree Filipov and Myroslava Semerey, the latter having been, along with Father Steliac, the initial inspiring force behind last year's very successful first Ukrainian festival.

The reputation of the festival, which is quickly establishing itself as a local tradition, is growing as evidenced by the number of visitors to the festival website, which peaked at 10, 516 on the day before the event. This year the primary sponsors were Comcast and Western Union.

Anyone who attended the festival could not help but marvel at the precision in organization and attention to detail that was evident wherever one turned. A new layout (which included a newly-built stage for the performers) allowed the crowds to disperse comfortably over the five-acre property. While the festival's success was the result of the hard work of many individuals too numerous to mention individually, the superhuman input of people such as Valentin Zabijaka, head of the Parish Board of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Yurij Petrenko, Olga Barnaj, Sonja Krawec and Olia Masnyk should be acknowledged.

The masters of ceremonies for the two-day event were Anya Dydyk-Petrenko and Deacon Staruch, who together managed a continuously flowing program of performances that captivated the crowds. Performers included the Yevshan Dance Ensemble of Rochester, N.Y., the trio Bandura Angels from Ukraine, the Washington Slavic Male Chorus, tenor Roman Tsymbala, soprano Anna Bachynska, the Washington dance ensemble Veseli Kozachata (comprising 12 young Ukrainian dancers between the ages of 3 and 9) the Oberehy orchestra, the Kozachata ensemble from the Ukrainian Embassy, and singers Iryna Kravets, Lidya and Gabriella Oros, and Olya Chodoby-Fryz.

On Saturday evening a traditional zabava (dance) was held featuring Svitkovi Dni and the Oberehy Orchestra. Many festival-goers stayed into the early morning hours enjoying this dance.

The weather was picture-perfect over the two-day event, with blue skies and temperatures in the 70s. One could see Ukrainian Americans enjoying themselves alongside people of many diverse backgrounds. All who came to the festival were exposed to the best of Ukrainian culture. Whether it was the caliber of the artists, the wide-ranging display of Ukrainian handicrafts and artwork, or the mouth-watering food, it was clear that the festival was enjoyed by many.

| Home Page |