Festival celebrates Ukrainian independence and culture
Eugene Luciw, executive vice president of the Ukrainian American Sport Center in Horsham, is gearing up for Ukraine’s independence day Aug. 24. And he’ll be helping thousands of other Ukrainian-Americans celebrate the country’s independence a day earlier.
Luciw is the organizer for the 18th annual Ukrainian Folk Festival, held Aug. 23 at the center. In addition to being home to the Ukrainian Nationals, the center’s soccer program, it functions as a social and cultural center, where Ukrainians gather and invite the public to celebrate their milestones, Luciw said.
One of those milestones is the country’s relatively new independence.
“In August of 1991, as the Soviet Union was falling apart, Ukraine, which is actually an ancient nation dating back many, many centuries, finally had its opportunity and proclaimed what we believed to be lasting independence from various despots, tsars and kings and such,” Luciw said. “It was the proclamation of that independence which led us at the Ukrainian American Sport Center to initiate a tradition of celebrating that independence.”
Luciw, a Ukrainian-American born in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia and now a Towamencin Township resident, said the celebration isn’t unlike America’s Independence Day celebrations — sans fireworks.
“We celebrate freedom. We celebrate independence, opportunity,” Luciw said, adding that they are American virtues as well. “Instead of fireworks, we show off the beauty and vibrancy of our folk culture to the public. And it’s a very spectacular and dazzling event.”
In planning for about six months, Luciw said one of his priorities was finding entertainment acts that complement each other. Lined up for this year are: The Kozaks, an acrobatic dance troupe from Toronto; the Luna Band, an orchestral quartet that performs Ukrainian music, based in New Jersey; violinist Innesa Tymochko Dekajlo, of Lviv, Ukraine; and more locally, the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, from Jenkintown.
“What we try to do is not limit ourselves to local entertainment, but [rather] bring the best that we can find from throughout the Ukrainian world,” Luciw said.
And what’s a Ukrainian festival without homemade kielbasa, pierogies, holuptsi and baked goods?
The festival started out as a one-year anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, and has grown in popularity, Luciw said. For this year’s installment, he expects about 2,000 visitors — some with Ukrainian heritage, some without. But, he said, there is a large Ukrainian population in the area.
“Montgomery County has become a sort of center of Ukrainian life in the greater Philadelphia area,” Luciw said. “Down in Abington, we have the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center, and of course our center in Horsham. It’s very easy to say that there are tens of thousands of Ukrainians that live in this area, and some portions of Bucks County.”
The gates open at noon, with performances running from 2 to 8 p.m. Admission is $15, children under 13 are free. Parking is also free. The Ukrainian American Sport Center is located at Lower State and County Line roads, Horsham.
Luciw is the organizer for the 18th annual Ukrainian Folk Festival, held Aug. 23 at the center. In addition to being home to the Ukrainian Nationals, the center’s soccer program, it functions as a social and cultural center, where Ukrainians gather and invite the public to celebrate their milestones, Luciw said.
One of those milestones is the country’s relatively new independence.
“In August of 1991, as the Soviet Union was falling apart, Ukraine, which is actually an ancient nation dating back many, many centuries, finally had its opportunity and proclaimed what we believed to be lasting independence from various despots, tsars and kings and such,” Luciw said. “It was the proclamation of that independence which led us at the Ukrainian American Sport Center to initiate a tradition of celebrating that independence.”
Luciw, a Ukrainian-American born in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia and now a Towamencin Township resident, said the celebration isn’t unlike America’s Independence Day celebrations — sans fireworks.
“We celebrate freedom. We celebrate independence, opportunity,” Luciw said, adding that they are American virtues as well. “Instead of fireworks, we show off the beauty and vibrancy of our folk culture to the public. And it’s a very spectacular and dazzling event.”
In planning for about six months, Luciw said one of his priorities was finding entertainment acts that complement each other. Lined up for this year are: The Kozaks, an acrobatic dance troupe from Toronto; the Luna Band, an orchestral quartet that performs Ukrainian music, based in New Jersey; violinist Innesa Tymochko Dekajlo, of Lviv, Ukraine; and more locally, the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, from Jenkintown.
“What we try to do is not limit ourselves to local entertainment, but [rather] bring the best that we can find from throughout the Ukrainian world,” Luciw said.
And what’s a Ukrainian festival without homemade kielbasa, pierogies, holuptsi and baked goods?
The festival started out as a one-year anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, and has grown in popularity, Luciw said. For this year’s installment, he expects about 2,000 visitors — some with Ukrainian heritage, some without. But, he said, there is a large Ukrainian population in the area.
“Montgomery County has become a sort of center of Ukrainian life in the greater Philadelphia area,” Luciw said. “Down in Abington, we have the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center, and of course our center in Horsham. It’s very easy to say that there are tens of thousands of Ukrainians that live in this area, and some portions of Bucks County.”
The gates open at noon, with performances running from 2 to 8 p.m. Admission is $15, children under 13 are free. Parking is also free. The Ukrainian American Sport Center is located at Lower State and County Line roads, Horsham.
