Manhattan wears Ukrainian Vyshyvanka (Embroidery)

The Team! People who make this Festival possible!

We go Green! Think about Tomorrow!

Festival Map

Ensemble Vatra

Iskra Ukrainian Dance Ensemble

Yavir School of Ukrainian Dance, Toronto, Canada

Vocalist Olga Fryz

Razom for Ukraine

Afterparty - Zabara

In two days the most anticipated Ukrainian event would open its streets to the thousands of people in New York City. It is fascinating how the street in the biggest city in the world will be closed for three days to let Ukrainians celebrate their heritage - the 39th Annual St. George Ukrainian Festival organized by St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church (click here for the festival program).

Each year, literally, thousands and thousands of people come to the Second Avenue and 7th Street to enjoy mesmerizing Ukrainian culture with its Hopak (traditional Ukrainian dance), music, arts, crafts, and clothes. Of course, what celebration without delicious Ukrainian cuisine – borsch and varenyky.

The last two years have been tough for Ukraine and we are still not out of the woods – Ukraine is currently fighting the aggressor on its eastern border. However, the fight against the common enemy united Ukrainians and made them stronger. We haven’t seen this phenomenon before in our history when all Ukrainians around the world are working for the same goal - help Ukraine to overcome this difficult time, remain strong and defeat the enemy. There have been established hundreds of international charitable organizations in every country where there is a Ukrainian community and they all cooperate in assisting Ukraine.

A new committee that was established this year to coordinate and organize the work of St. George Ukrainian Festival is working closely with the American Community. The portion from the Festival revenue will be donated to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City to assist those affected by the building collapse in the East Village on March 26th. The tragedy that took two young lives and injured many others happened on the right corner of the block where the Festival will be held.

During these three days many Ukrainian-American organizations will be accepting donations to support various projects in Ukraine. 

Razom for Ukraine – a charitable organization that was established in the early days of the protest in Kyiv in 2014 – is working together with St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church to collect the Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine. The Wounded Warrior Ukraine project established to provide the professional psychological training to the soldiers who have been into the war zone and returned emotionally wounded. This project will be raising the awareness and accepting financial contributions to continue its work in Ukraine.

This year St. George Festival invited a special guest from Lviv, Ukraine – Ensemble “Vatra”. The ensemble has been performing since the 1970th. It is an elite Ukrainian music band.

You will also hear a vocalist Olya Fryz who will sing and perform on bandura (Ukrainian musical instrument) and the “Yavir School of Ukrainian Dance” from Toronto, Canada.

There is no cultural festival without Hopak. Who could perform it better than the fabulous “Syzokryli Ukrainian Dance Ensemble” with its Artistic Director Orlando V. Pagan? When you hear their music and watch them dance, your feet will go dancing right there on the stop. Do not miss them! They are performing ONLY on Saturday evening, on May 16th. 

If you do miss “Syzokryli”, we will have a few more dance schools, among them is “Iskra Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, which was founded as an outreach of the Iskra Ukrainian Dance Academy in 2011.

This year St. George Ukrainian festival received twice as many vendor applications than it did last year. This means a lot of shopping! Best clothes made in Ukraine and in the world. We will have the sale booths lined up on both sides of the street. Do not forget your wallet. Buy Ukrainian! 

This year we will also have a special surprise for our little ones. We start children’s program called “KidsZone” where they can draw and play.

There will be many pleasant moments and surprises. Come and admire best performances, savor best food, and have best mood! Bring your friends and share your culture with the world because “Ukraine is One”, says the theme of this year's festival.

UAPOST.US will be covering this happy event during these three days. We will show you amazing photos and tell exciting stories from the center of the event. Stay tuned!