The Carpathia Folk Dance Ensemble is among the performers scheduled to entertain the crowd at the Ukrainian Folk Festival in Horsham.
Submitted photo
Ukrainian Folk Festival to return after 2-year absence
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Violinist Innesa Trymochko Dekajlo will bring the music of Ukraine to the folk festival.
Submitted photo
“We’ll be celebrating our culture,” Eugene Luciw said. “But we celebrate through a veil of tears.”
Organizer of the annual Ukrainian Folk Festival in Horsham, Luciw said he expects a large crowd will attend the event, set for noon to 8 p.m. Aug. 28 at the Ukrainian American Sport Center – Tryzub.
Not only will people be eager to experience the music, dancing and food of Ukraine after a two-year, pandemic-exposed absence, he predicted, but they will be eager to show their support for Ukraine, knowing that $5 of each paid admission will go toward humanitarian aid as the war in Ukraine continues.
“We think there will be very great interest,” he said in a telephone interview. “And we think it’s very important to demonstrate that Moscow lies.”
“We are a separate and distinct culture, with our own language, our own music and dance,” he said. “Our people have a full right to self-determination as a nation.”
“Ukraine is fighting for the freedom not only of its own land but all of Europe and all of the Western world,” Luciw added. “We ask people not only to assist with humanitarian aid but to contact legislators and ask for more military aid. Ukraine needs heavier artillery at this point.”
“People that come to our festival are used to us delivering the message about what’s going on in Ukraine,” he said, explaining that in addition to the Russian invasion that began in February, there has been a continuing conflict for eight years, since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.
But, he added, despite the sobering news of suffering in Ukraine and the need for aid, “people that come to this festival, they enjoy themselves. Let’s not forget that. The music and dance especially is so vibrant and electric. These are our cultural fireworks.”
Promising a “dazzling festival” from noon to 8 p.m. Aug. 28, a news release said the event celebrates the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence and will include the rich color and deep symbolism of delicate pysanka (Ukrainian Easter Egg), the strength and rhythm of the powerful Hopak ethnic dance, “and every brilliant Kolomiyka (polka), and soulful folk song in between.”
An outdoor summer stage concert and show is set for 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. with live orchestra music from 5 to 8 p.m. plus traditional Ukrainian foods and baked goods, a barbecue pit, standard picnic fare, arts and crafts displays and live reenactments from Ukrainian history.
Performers include Ukrainian pop singer and songwriter Iryna Lonchyna, the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, the Carpathia Folk Dance Ensemble, singer Yuliya Stupen, violinist Innesa Trymochko Dekajlo and Alex Lagoda and Cold Ravine Band.
General admission is $15, with $5 to be donated to relief of war victims in Ukraine. Children younger than 15 will be admitted free. Parking also is free. For more information call 267-664-3857, email [email protected], or visit www.tryzub.org.
Thethe Ukrainian American Sport Center — Tryzub (www.tryzub.org) is located at County Line and Lower State Roads, in Horsham, slightly more than 100 miles south of Wilkes-Barre in Montgomery County.