Weather along Colorado’s Front Range is often difficult to predict, but every August one thing can be said with certainty: the Ukrainian Festival of Colorado will take place.
The 13th annual Ukrainian Festival of Colorado was held outdoors on August 22. At times, it seemed as though hail might begin at any moment, but that did not stop more than 2,000 cheerful and enthusiastic attendees from gathering at Heritage Belmar Park near Denver to celebrate Ukraine together.
Ukrainian pop star alyona alyona performed at the festival. Among her hits was “Teresa & Maria,” a song that gained widespread popularity after she performed it with Jerry Heil at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
Her live performance as dusk fell became the highlight of a packed, day-long program that included performances by artists and speeches. The event has already become an established tradition marking Ukraine’s Independence Day by bringing the local community together around Ukrainian cuisine and culture. The event was organized by Ukrainians of Colorado, the state’s leading Ukrainian organization.
In addition to Ukrainian Americans, attendees included people of various backgrounds, including Belarusians and Georgians, as well as many Americans with no Ukrainian heritage at all.
Among the honored guests was a group of wounded Ukrainian veterans who had come to Colorado to take part in a sports rehabilitation program.
All net proceeds from the Festival go toward medical supplies, assistance for orphaned children, and internally displaced persons in Ukraine.
“Organizing this festival every year is a huge undertaking, but it is absolutely worth all the effort,” said Marina Dubrova, President of Ukrainians of Colorado and one of its co-founders, along with Iryna Shatalova. “Every year, we have more vendors offering Ukrainian food, more Ukrainian craft exhibits, and more informational booths.”
Among the honored guests at this year’s Festival were Vitalii Moshkivskyi, the new Consul General of Ukraine in Houston, as well as representatives of leading elected officials in Colorado. Attendees were also shown a video greeting from Borys Filatov, Mayor of Dnipro, a Ukrainian city that recently entered into a new partnership agreement with the City and County of Denver.
Photo: Courtesy of Mark Dillen
Author: Mark Dillen