WHIPPANY, N.J. – Chances of showers on Saturday, October 1, did not seem to dampen the spirits of the large crowd attending the seventh annual Ukrainian Festival of the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey (UACCNJ).
Inside the UACCNJ, part of the gym was transformed into a dining room, where sales of Ukrainian food – varenyky, borshch, kovbasa, kapusta, holubtsi – along with hot dogs, hamburgers and roast pork sandwiches did a brisk business. Vendors located in the remainder of the gym as well as in an adjoining room, the bakery café in its usual location, a magician and children’s activities in one of the side rooms, and two stage programs in the auditorium – featuring Ukrainian dancers, singers and musicians, with bilingual masters of ceremonies – gave attendees plenty of spots to visit inside the building.
The outdoor beer garden, with its selection of Ukrainian beers, had plenty of tables and chairs for guests to enjoy the live accordion music. A new addition to the outdoor scene was two colorful kiosks decorated in the style of Ukrainian village homes, one selling shashlyky (kabobs) and the other nalysnyky (crepes).
In the photos, clockwise from top left: Iskra Ukrainian Dance Academy in their Bukovynian dance; Malvy Ukrainian Dance Group in “Hopak;” Oksana Telepko and Andrij Dobriansky, masters of ceremonies; young dancers of Nadiya Ukrainian Dance Group; tempting sweets in the bakery café; Selfreliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union, major sponsor of the festival; Iskra Ukrainian Dance Ensemble; dancers of Iskra Academy wait their turn to perform; violinist Innesa Tymochko Dekajlo. (Photos by Christine Syzonenko)
