Simply Slavic Returns

YOUNGSTOWN - Simply Slavic, the downtown festival created specifically to celebrate Greater Youngstown’s colorful Slavic community will take place on Saturday, June 16th from Noon-11 PM on Federal Plaza East. The event was created last year to educate both the region’s large number of Slavic descendants and the community-at-large about Slavic heritage.

"Nearly 4,000 people joined us last year to enjoy our showcase of Slavic culture," - says Ken Shirilla, event chairman, adding that attendees came not just from the Valley but from Cleveland, Pittsburgh and beyond. "The overwhelming, positive response of the community proved that a festival of this nature could become a reality among different groups with a common background."

This year’s event will again showcase the rich traditions of the Mahoning Valley’s Slavic culture by celebrating the food, music, dance and customs of the various Slavic ethnicities represented here. It will do this by featuring live music, folk dance performances, homemade food, educational exhibits and ethnic vendors, including the following:

• An Ecumenical Blessing and Parade of Flags with representatives from a variety of faiths and parishes featuring the Sts. Peter & Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Choir of Youngstown; 
• A Slavic Kitchen featuring booths of homemade foods from more than a half dozen area churches, businesses and ethnic groups;
• An Ethnic Heritage Tent where each of the Slavic groups from around the region will create exhibits to educate visitors on the culture of their region through items like maps, flags, pictures, language lessons and information on famous immigrants from that country.
• A Marketplace of vendors selling imported dolls, eggs, linens and apparel reflecting the varied nations of the festival; 
• A Baking Contest where amateurs can submit their favorite traditional items
  to be judged by area Slavic celebrities, and
• The Wasko Stage featuring music and entertainment throughout the day to include four of the region’s most colorful folk dance troupes, the Del Sinchak polka band and the renowned Harmonia folk ensemble showcasing the concert and dance music of Eastern European for the young and the “young-at-heart” into the night.

Krakowiaki Polish Folk Circle (D'Ella Heschmeyer in front) at Dyngus Day in Cleveland.
 

NEW THIS YEAR:
"For 2012, we are expanding the Festival site to two city blocks to give our guests more elbow room and allow people to interact in a better street fair-like layout," - Shirilla adds. "We also will have more food vendors to feed the people later into the day and provide non-stop live entertainment until midnight."

The modern-day European nations representing the origins of Slavic ancestry are Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. See MAP   
Numerous local parishes and organizations already enthusiastically have signed on to support and participate in this effort. These include: the City of Youngstown, Sts Peter & Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church, PolishYoungstown, the American Slovak Cultural Association of Mahoning Valley, the Carpatho-Rusyn Heritage Society, and many others. 
 
By enhancing the community’s knowledge of these lively peoples through a joyful, family friendly experience, we hope to honor the shared past of our beloved ancestors by educating and enriching the lives of a future generation.
For further information refer to the event’s website www.simplyslavic.org or contact Ken Shirilla at 330-503-9874 or info@simplyslavic.org. Direct press related calls to Aundréa Cika Heschmeyer 330-646-4082 or aundrea@polishyoungstown.org

Youngstown Ukrainian Dancers.

Who is a Slav?
The Slavic peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in Central and Eastern Europe.  The early Slavs came from various parts of Asia into Eastern Europe about 2,000 BC. Under the pressure of nomadic hoards the Slavic tribes crossed the Carpathian Mountains and pushed their way down to the Balkans. Others moved westward toward the upper Danube, and still others eastward toward the River Dniper and Black Sea. This migration continued from the fourth through the eighth century, giving birth to the Slavic nations that we know today. More than half of Europe's territory is inhabited by Slavic-speaking communities.

The worldwide population of people of Slavic descent is more than 350 million. Modern nations and ethnic groups described as Slavs are considerably diverse both in appearance and culturally, and relations between them – even within the individual ethnic groups themselves – are varied, ranging from a sense of connection to feelings of mutual hostility.
For many centuries the Slavic tribes used the same common language. Starting with the migration into Eastern Europe some dialectical differences began to develop among the various tribes. Generally, Slavic peoples are classified into three main groups:

• East Slavic including Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. This group subdivides into three separate branches: Russians (or Muscovites), White (or Bielo-Russians) and Rusyns (or Carpatho-Rusyns); 
• West Slavic including Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, and
• South Slavic including Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Slovenes, Bosniaks and Montenegrins.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s political and economic tension triggered a wave of emigration from the Slavic nations to America. These hard working people came to form settlements in cities and neighborhoods where jobs and the American Dream welcomed their arrival.

Today, millions of Americans and at least 75,000 Valley residents, can trace their family heritage to the Slavic nations (ref. US Census). Celebrations, like the Simply Slavic, remind us of those roots and the sacrifices made by those who came before us seeking a better life.

Could you be a Slav? Many people were identified as “Hungarian” due to their origin of travel from the territory called Austria-Hungary. However, living in the territory ruled by Austro-Hungary were large numbers of Poles, Slovaks, Czechs, Slovenes, Croatians, Ukrainians and Serbians who they were ethnically and linguistically Slavic. So if your ancestors arrived before 1918, in actuality, you could be a Slav!

Often Mistaken for Slavic Not all people from Eastern and Central Europe are Slavs. Hungarians and Romanians are neither linguistically nor ethnically Slavic people. The language of Hungary is identified by linguists as a member of the Finno-Ugric group of languages. Romanian is a Romance language related to French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. So, although generally a friendly neighbor to all, these ethnics are not Slavic.

Event Schedule (Subject to change)

12:00
Opening Ceremonies
Ecumenical Blessing
Parade of Flags

12:30
Happy Hearts Tamburiztans

1:15
Noćne Sove Tamburitzans

2:15
Youngstown Ukrainian Dancers

3:00
Jamie Marić

3:30
St Nicholas Russian Youth Dancers

4:15
Harmonia Folk Ensemble

5:00
Krakowiaki Polish Folk Circle

5:30
Del Sinchak Orchestra

6:30
Living Traditions Folk Ensemble

7:15
Del Sinchak

8:00
Miss Czech-Slovak USA

8:15
Del Sinchak

9:00
Harmonia

Midnight Conclusion

Austintown resident Ron Garchar, president of the Sister Cities Organization,  in his authentic Slovak hat and shirt in the Marketplace at Simply Slavic 2011.