‘A Sunday in the Old
Country’ at the Birmingham Ethnic Fest, Aug. 16
The 35th
Annual Birmingham Ethnic Festival will be held on Sunday, August
16, 2009 on the streets of the old Hungarian neighborhood in
East Toledo. The festival will be held from Noon to 9:00 PM on
Consaul Street in the middle of East Toledo’s Birmingham
neighborhood.
The kickoff for the festival begins with Opening Ceremonies at
noon on Sunday, on the steps of St. Stephen’s Church, followed
by a parade down the Festival Mall.
Visitors can choose from a huge variety of foods at the
festival. St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, the Hungarian Club of
Toledo, and Calvin United Church of Christ will feature their
famous chicken paprikas, kaposta galuska, and
kolbasz dinners along with Hungarian pastries, paprikas
noodles and gravy, kolbasz sandwiches, stuffed cabbages,
and szalonna sütes.
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VFW Post 4906 will serve shish kabob, pigs-in-a-blanket,
bratwurst, corn on the cob, and szalonna sütes. Patrons can also
choose from street vendor fare including potato pancakes,
pierogis, chicken and Greek sausage pitas, curly fries, grilled
chicken, barbecue chicken & ribs, cotton candy, pizza, and
gelato ice cream.
Entertainment will be provided by the Pál Family Orchestra
from Hungary, among others. The
Pál
Family Orchestra Concerts offers musical experiences venturing
into traditional authentic village music, popular Hungarian
music in the “Gypsy” tradition, with a wonderful touch of choral
works and samplings of appropriate classical music.
Also providing entertainment in the Calvin United, St. Stephen’s
and VFW lots will be
Ballet Folklorico Imagenes
Mexicanas,
Csipke Children’s Group, Dayton Hungarian Dancers,
Molly’s Irish Dancers,
Echoes of Poland, and Leyla & Lapis Lazuli.
Check the festival program book for exact times of the
performances in each lot.
This year’s Birmingham Festival is dedicated to the 65th
year of the VFW Post 4906. Admission is free. Street parking is
available on the perimeter of the neighborhood bounded by Front,
York and Wheeling streets. Handicapped parking is available in
the lot behind the fire station at Consaul and Front streets.
Pre-festival events
include: the 14th Annual Waiter’s Race on Saturday, August 15th
at 7 PM on Consaul Street. In the European tradition, teams of
wait staff from neighborhood taverns and non-profit
organizations compete in a relay race.
Following the Waiter’s Race, guests can enjoy a celebration of
Hungarian Folk Dance and music at the Foklor Tanchaz with the
Pál Family Orchestra from 7 PM to 10
PM in the Calvin United Church parking lot. Hungarian foods,
including gulyas soup and palacsinta (Hungarian
crepes) and a beer garden at Calvin as well as a fish fry at the
VFW Post 4906 will round out the evening.
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