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.
Friday 5/20No stage show ... the vendors will be selling as they set upSaturday 5/21Outdoor 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 5/22Ukrainian 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.mOutdoor stage performances begin @ 1-3 p.m.
New York magazine's annual "Yesteryear Issue" celebrates the magazine’s 54th anniversary by paying homage to the East Village's Little Ukraine.
"The issue tells the neighborhood’s story through successive waves of immigration, and shows how the neighborhood retained its identity and culture," says features director Genevieve Smith. "These stories are told through a deeply reported history by city editor Christopher Bonanos, as well as first-person accounts and archival photographs and illustrations."
The cover features a painting by Yaroslava Surmach Mills (1925–2008), who grew up in the East Village (her father was the proprietor of Surma Book & Music Co.), attended Cooper Union, and became a well-known children's-book illustrator in the 1970s.
Ukrainian artist Misha Tyutyunik will be painting a large-scale mural with public participation at the Citizens Bank branch in Little Ukraine, East Village. This mural was designed with the people of Kyiv during Tyutyunik's time in Ukraine during his Fulbright program. The mural is a gift from Citizens to its neighbors to honor the indomitable spirit of Ukraine.The bank opened branches across New York City in February with a mission to support the neighborhoods they are in. In addition to the mural, Citizens will announce a donation to UNWLA, a women-led organization [based in the East Village] that has taken extraordinary efforts to raise money to help Ukrainian refugees.
The melody of the song is adapted from the Ukrainian folk song "Oy Marichko," and features renowned Ukrainian trumpeter Semjon Barlas (now in Berlin). All proceeds go to Ukrainian-American organization Razom For Ukraine, playing a vital role in relief efforts.
Andrij Dobriansky, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, said last week that the plan was for donated gear to be shipped by air to Poland and then transported into Ukraine.The items were most likely to be used by civilian security and medical teams, including citizens who have joined the fight against the Russian military, not Ukrainian soldiers themselves, officials said.
