BY YVONNE COLLERY | Be sure to come to the 39th annual St. George Ukrainian Festival this coming weekend, on E. Seventh St between Second and Third Aves.
You will see no socks or funnel cake sold at this fair. This unique and well-loved East Village festival will transport you to the enchanting world of Ukraine. You can feast on delicious homemade Ukrainian specialties, such as pierogi, bigos (hunter’s stew) and holubtsi (stuffed cabbage). A dizzying array of homemade sweets and pastries appear like magic throughout the three days.
You can also buy beer from McSorley’s and Burp Castle. Veselka and other neighborhood restaurants have booths. Beautiful and colorful imported traditional handicrafts, jewelry and clothing, as well as music CDs, magazines and books from Ukraine are sold at locally sponsored tables.
Spectacular Ukrainian dance and music is performed nonstop on the festival stage. This year, Yavir, a Ukrainian dance ensemble from Toronto, and Vatra, a band famous in Ukraine, are the featured acts. Many other fantastic acts, including children’s and youth dance groups, will also perform. Prepare to be delighted by the many adorable children dressed in splendid and colorful flower-adorned costumes.
This has been a very dark and hard year for the tight-knit East Village Ukrainian community. After seeing the horrors of the invasion and bloodshed in their homeland, this community was also in the center of the recent epic disaster of the Second Ave. gas explosion. This partly occurred on the festival block where both the St. George Church and school are located.
The Ukrainian community has nobly and generously decided to give 10 percent of all funds raised at the festival to the Mayor’s Fund for the victims of the Second Ave. disaster. There will also be tables fundraising for humanitarian aid for the widows, orphans and children of the fallen in Ukraine and to bring seriously injured soldiers from that war-torn country to the U.S. for needed medical treatment unavailable over there.
Please join our community for a much-needed weekend of fun and celebration!
The festival is sponsored by and benefits St. George Church and St. George Academy and runs from Fri., May 15, through Sun., May 17. Hours are Friday, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
