The Twin Cities Ukrainian Heritage Festival is held every year to
celebrate all things Ukrainian in our community and to
demonstrate Ukrainian-American contributions to community life in
the Twin Cities area and beyond. We invite all our
friends--Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian alike--to join us on this
fun, celebratory day!
The first Twin Cities Ukrainian Heritage Festival was held in
1999, and was organized under the initiative of Mr. Mykola
Mehyts. Since then it has been a dedicated group of volunteers
who have worked hard to keep the festival going and growing.
Each year at the festival there are carnival games and other
activities for children, Ukrainian food, an outdoor beer garden
with Ukrainian beer, and a live concert program both inside and
outside of the Ukrainian center. There is also a varenyky
(pierogi) eating competition and a competition for Festival
Royalty. The Festival Royalty receive pride of place on the
Ukrainian community float for the annual Northeast Parade,
Aquatennial Parade, and Columbia Heights parade each following
year! Also for the first time in 2011 the festival introduced the
Ukrainians Got Talent competition.
The festival concert program is a regular hit that both
represents the extraordinary talent that exists in our local
Ukrainian community as well as featuring Ukrainian performers
from outside our TC area.
In years past there have been guest performances by singers Ihor
Bohdan and Annychka, both from Lviv, Ukraine. Roma Vasylevych,
also from Lviv but now resident in the TC area, has regularly
performed at the festival. Like Ihor Bohdan, Roma holds the title
of ?????????? ?????? ??????? (Zasluzhenyj artyst Ukrajiny =
Honored Artist of Ukraine), the highest honor awarded to artists
by the Ukrainian state. Another native Ukrainian now resident in
our TC area who has performed at the festival is virtuoso concert
violinist Taras Umrysh. Ethnic Dance Theatre, an award-winning,
TC-area based professional folk dance ensemble has performed from
its Ukrainian repertiore at our festival and, of course, our own
TC-area Cheremosh Ukrainian Folk Dance Ensemble is a yearly hit!
Also, the Twin Cities-based Ukrainian Village Band (UVB) made its
debut at the festival in 2007.
All of this is in addition to the wide variety of excellent
performances by other members of our community!
Discover with us the richness of Ukrainian culture in our Twin
Cities area!
Put on your Ukrainian Shirt!Rally your Ukrainian Spirit!Join us
at the TC Ukrainian Heritage Festival!
If you or someone you love is considering adoption, contact
Adoption Services International to find out more about the
relatively short waiting period and low cost of Ukrainian
Adoption.
www.adoptionservicesinternational.com
info@asi-adoption.com
908-444-0999
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