Showing posts with label Ukrainian Festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ukrainian Festival. Show all posts

Saturday, May 20, 2023

The Ukrainian Festival continues this weekend on 7th Street

The St. George Ukrainian Festival continues today and tomorrow on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. 

Our previous post has more info... or check out the festival's Facebook page.

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

The annual Ukrainian Festival is this weekend

The St. George Ukrainian Festival returns to Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square this coming weekend for its 45th edition. 

The three-day festival celebrates Ukrainian culture, music, and food with various performances and vendors selling traditional arts and crafts. 

The Festival runs from Friday evening, May 19, through Sunday late afternoon, May 22. Here are a few highlights: 
  • Friday at 4 — Food and crafts vendors open for business 
  • Saturday at 2 — Outdoor song and dance stage performances 
  • Saturday at 5 — Ukrainian Liturgy inside St. George Church 
  • Saturday at 6 — Outdoor stage performances 
  • Sunday at 11:30 — Concert inside St. George Church by Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York 
  • Sunday at 1 p.m. — Outdoor stage performances begin 
Find more details on the Festival's Facebook page.

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Getting ready for the St. George Ukrainian Festival

Photos by Stacie Joy 

The annual St. George Ukrainian Festival got underway yesterday on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. 

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church, where volunteers were busy prepping for the festivities...
... and on Seventh Street (before the rain arrived)...
Hit this link for the festival highlights today and tomorrow.

Friday, May 20, 2022

Reminders: The St. George Ukrainian Festival takes place THIS WEEKEND

As noted back on Monday, the St. George Ukrainian Festival returns to Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square after a two-year pandemic-related hiatus. 

Here are some details via the EVG inbox... 
Following a 2-year absence due to COVID-19, this year's festival takes place during the worst period of violence the Ukrainian homeland has experienced since WWII. According to the United Nations, almost 13 million people are believed to have fled their homes in Ukraine since Russia began its war 
As the heart of the Ukrainian American community in the city with one of the largest Ukrainian immigrant populations in the United States, parishioners of St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church have worked tirelessly to raise funds for their countrymen. 

Over 30,000 sought-after Ukrainian dumplings have been prepared in advance by church volunteers ... and in addition to these 'varenyky', there will also be plenty of cabbage rolls (holubtsi), beet soup (borshch), sausage (kobasa) and sauerkraut for sale. Veselka Restaurant will also be on hand all weekend long with some of their favorite Ukrainian menu items. A portion of these sales will be used for Humanitarian relief efforts.
And the schedule...
Friday 5/20
No stage show ... the vendors will be selling as they set up

Saturday 5/21 
Outdoor stage performance @ 2-4 p.m. 
Open-air Memorial Service for the Victims of Russian Aggression @ 4-4:30 p.m. 
Ukrainian Liturgy inside St. George Church @ 6-7 p.m. 
Outdoor stage performance @ 7-8:30 p.m. 

Sunday 5/22 
Ukrainian Liturgies inside St. George Church @ 7 a.m., 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. 
Concert inside St. George Church by Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York @ 12-12:45 p.m 
Outdoor stage performances begin @ 1-3 p.m.

Monday, May 16, 2022

The St. George Ukrainian Festival returns to 7th Street this weekend

After a two-year pandemic-related hiatus, the St. George Ukrainian Festival returns to Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square this coming weekend. (The 2019 Festival was the 43rd edition.) 

The three-day festival celebrates Ukrainian culture, music, and food with various performances and vendors selling traditional arts and crafts...
This has long been the neighborhood's best annual event. With Ukraine in the hearts and minds of so many people worldwide, this promises to be an especially emotional festival. 

Sunday, May 19, 2019

Sunday's parting shot



A moment at the Ukrainian Festival festival today on Seventh Street... photo by Derek Berg

Friday, May 17, 2019

Reminder: The Ukrainian Festival starts this afternoon!



The 43rd edition of the Saint George Ukrainian Festival kicks off later this afternoon in the usual place — Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

The main stage shows are tonight at 6:30 ... tomorrow at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. ... and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.


[Photo from 2017 by Derek Berg]

And the Festival hours to enjoy Ukrainian culture and traditions:
Friday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

And the weather looks promising...

Thursday, May 9, 2019

The 43rd annual Saint George Ukrainian Festival is May 17-19



The 43rd edition of the Saint George Ukrainian Festival starts next Friday (May 17!) evening in the usual place — Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

We'll post/link to the schedule for the three-day event "to experience, feel, listen and taste Ukrainian culture" closer to the date.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with Andrew Stasiw, chairman of the St. George Ukrainian Festival

Friday, May 18, 2018

The 42nd annual Saint George Ukrainian Festival is this weekend



The festival officially begins this evening at 6:30 on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

You can find the full schedule of events here.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

5 big events in May that you may or may not already know about


[Loisaida Festival photo by Stacie Joy]

May marks Lower East Side History Month, the annual celebration created by Fourth Arts Block and Downtown Art, with other local organizations and businesses taking part.

In addition to the activities (see the calendar here) associated with the History Month, here are a few more high-profile events this May...

• May 18-20 — Saint George Ukrainian Festival, Seventh Street. Details here.

• May 19 — Dance Parade and DanceFest, Astor Place, St. Mark's Place and Tompkins Square Park. Details here.

• May 25-27 — The Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. Details here.

• May 27 — Loisaida Festival, Avenue C. Details here.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Do you wanna dance?


[East 4th Street at the LaMama Block Party]

EVG contributor Derek Berg took in some of the dancing that was going on around the neighborhood yesterday... here's a selection...

The Dancing in the Street La MaMa Block Party







The 41st annual Ukrainian Festival











The Festival continues today on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. Performances are at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

The Dance Parade







DanceFest









Find more DanceFest pics here.

Friday, May 19, 2017

Friday's parting shot



Day 1 of the Ukrainian Festival on Seventh Street... Find the weekend schedule here.

Photo by Derek Berg

Reminder: The Ukrainian Festival is this weekend on 7th Street



The 41st edition starts this evening and runs through Sunday on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square. And it looks like there will be good weather throughout the weekend. You can find more updates at the Festival's Facebook event page.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with Andrew Stasiw, chairman of the St. George Ukrainian Festival

Thursday, May 19, 2016

The 40th annual St. George Ukrainian Festival is this weekend



One of our favorite neighborhood activities (traditions?) is this weekend... here are some highlights of the 40th annual St. George Ukrainian Festival via the EVG inbox...


This year's festival on East Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square will run from Friday evening, May 20, through late afternoon Sunday, May 22, with stage performances featuring folk dancing and singing beginning at:

Friday 5/20 - 6:30 pm
Saturday 5/21 - 2 pm & 6 pm
Sunday 5/22 - 1:30 pm & 4 pm

Admission: Free

A KidsZone will be active on Saturday and Sunday, with activities for children including Ukrainian art-making stations and face painting.

Tens of thousands of sought-after Ukrainian dumplings have been prepared in advance by church volunteers (see Dumplings for the Lord) and in addition to these "varenyky," there will also be plenty of cabbage rolls (holubtsi), beet soup (borsch), sausage (kobasa) and sauerkraut for sale. NYC mainstays Veselka Restaurant and Korchma Taras Bulba will also be on hand all weekend long with some of their favorite Ukrainian menu items.

Saint George Ukrainian Catholic Church, located at 30 E. Seventh St., was founded in the East Village in 1905. The church has sponsored an annual festival since the very first one in 1976, then officially a co-celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial and 100 years of Ukrainian immigration to America. The historic parish will open the church to the public in between stage shows on Saturday, and four Divine liturgies will be celebrated on Sunday beginning at 8:30 am. Visitors will be able to enjoy the breathtaking church ornamentation, paintings, and incredible mosaics in the Byzantine-Ukrainian style.



Find the official Facebook event page here. (And you can find our previous coverage here.)

The festivities officially begin Friday at 4 p.m. And let's hope the weather holds off for Saturday. (Ditto for the Dance Parade, which will post about later.)

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Today is Day 3 of the St. George Ukrainian Festival



The 39th annual St. George Ukrainian Festival, held on East Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square, wraps up today… the hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Here are a few photos from yesterday via Derek Berg…







Andrew Ilnicki, manager of East Village Meat Market, is selling an array of Eastern European food at the festival … Veselka has a booth with food… and at Jimmy's No. 43: "The former landlord of Brewski's, Jerry Kuziv is now making a great German-style lager under the Brewski's label with brewer Greg Accardi over at High Point Brewing/Ramstein in New Jersey. All weekend we'll feature Brewski's as our official lager of the Ukrainian Festival." There are more beer options on the block at Standings and Burp Castle.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Q-and-A with Andrew Stasiw, chairman of the St. George Ukrainian Festival

Friday, May 15, 2015

Q-and-A with Andrew Stasiw, chairman of the St. George Ukrainian Festival

[Festival photo from 2012 by Bobby Williams]

The 39th annual St. George Ukrainian Festival, held on East Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square, starts this afternoon at 4.

In the aftermath of the deadly gas explosion on March 26 on Second Avenue at East Seventh Street, festival organizers decided to donate 10 percent of the profits to The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City (designated to the East Village building collapse fund). Organizers said that they will look to showcase the unity and the resilience of the East Village with the 2015 edition of the festival.

Here, Andrew Stasiw, chairman of St. George Ukrainian Festival, answered a few questions via email about this year's event.

Were there any conversations about canceling this year's festival?

Yes. Monday after the explosion, I met with key people on the festival committee. We were all horrified by the reality of the accident, and especially by the loss of life.

We determined to wait until I had a chance to reach out to OEM (NYC's Office of Emergency Management) and SAPPO (NYC's Street Activity Permit Office) to determine whether we would even be allowed to have a street closure so quickly. Both offices assured me that the street closure 1 1/2 months later would not be a problem.

Another consideration we discussed with the church committee was our "Grandfather Status" with the City of New York. Should we for moral reasons choose to not hold our festival, we would lose our status, and not be allowed to have a three-day closure again in the next year. The City no longer grants three-day closures, and has not for two decades.

Our festival has now been a 39-year tradition, and an integral part of our outreach to our surrounding community. Our community would be devastated if we lost our permit. Though we could have requested a reprieve from the city, we opted to move forward with the festival, and do something for our community as well.

Thus, the festival committee along with our pastor, Father Bernard Panczuk, agreed that we should proceed with the festival. We reached out to our performers and partners, and all agreed that we should do something to help our community. This is when we determined to utilize part of our net profit to donate to the East Village Relief Fund established by the City. This will benefit both merchants who lost their businesses trying to reboot, and tenants who lost their apartments.

To increase our revenues, all performers have agreed to perform for free in order to help our church, school and the East Village Relief Fund.

How will this year's festival showcase the unity and the resilience of the neighborhood?

There is a passion in the hearts of the people in our neighborhood that is now stronger then ever. We at St. George Church are so grateful, and proud of our neighbors who have reached out to us, offering support for our efforts.

More then ever, this year's festival feels more like a collaborative community event versus just a Ukrainian ethnic festival. The neighborhood is resilient because they are coming together to celebrate our Ukrainian heritage as well as to honor and assist those suffering because of the explosion.

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

What do you personally look forward to each year with the festival?

The kids! Yeah, we get amazing professional artists performing, but it is all about the children. Ukrainian dance schools exist all over the tri-state area, and this festival gives them and their families an opportunity to perform in the City. Through these schools, these children of Ukrainian descent get to learn about their heritage and then share it through song and dance with the people of New York.

As an educator, I see the value for children in these types of after-school activities — helping to build parametric connections in their brains through movement and counting, and also build friendships that last far into their adulthood.

For this year, we are very excited about our festival, but our hearts are broken for the loss of Moises Ismael Locón Yac and Nicholas Figueroa, two young men whose time was cut too short because of the explosion.

At St. George, we pray for them and pray that God comforts the weeping hearts of their families. Personally, I wish I could have done more during this tragic event. I witnessed [the explosion], and it was impossible to get back into the building and look for more potential victims. That day is still hard to talk about, but now we need to focus on what we can do to keep our community strong.

The festival hours are tonight, 4 to 9; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.