SerbFest in Washington, D.C.
With the blessing of His Grace Bishop Irinej of Eastern America, St. Luke Serbian Orthodox Church in Washington, DC organized its Spring parish festival – SerbFest DC – on May 18-20th, 2018.
From year to year, the festival has been attracting increased interest of the public. This year, the trend has continued, and the attendance surpassed all expectations. The third year in a row, SerbFest is attracting interest of both Serbs and non-Serbs in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Besides the visitors from the neighboring states (e.g., Pennsylvania and Delaware), this year we had guests from other parts of the United States (e.g., Texas), Canada, and as far as Australia.
The purpose of the parish festival is manifold: to further fellowship and cooperation among our parishioners, to provide hospitality to the wider Serbian community, and to present the Serbian culture and customs to our guests from outside of the Serbian community. This year, we had a record number of volunteers, who worked tirelessly for weeks in advance, as well as during all three days of the festival, and thus helped make this year’s SerbFest the most successful one yet.
We owe an immense debt of gratitude for this extraordinary success of our parish first and foremost to God for His grace and mercy which He bestowed on us, to our hierarch His Grace Bishop Irinej for his paternal love and blessings, to the President of our Parish Trusteeship Mark Rasevic for his indefatigable work, gargantuan effort, and superlative organization and coordination of the SerbFest, to the President of our Circle of Serbian Sisters Nina Lojanica and Snezana Djokic for coordinating the preparation of the many Serbian delicacies, and to numerous volunteers, parishioners, and friends of our parish.
We are also grateful to the participants of the cultural program of the festival: our guests from Canada – Serbian Folklore Ensemble “Ravna Gora” of Hamilton and Academy of the Serbian Folk Dances of Toronto, to Dr. Danica Marinac-Dabic and the Serbian Cultural Center “Opancici” of Washington, DC, as well as our parish organizations: Folklore Group “Prelo” (coordinator Radmila Bozic) and the Serbian Singing Society “Lira” (director Popadija Jelena Vranic). We are grateful to the local musicians of “Kalcha Band,” maestro Petar Maric (the world champion in the electric accordion), and the Tamburitza Orchestra “Sviraj!” for entertaining the guests of our Festival all three days.
A selection of photographs from SerbFest DC – Spring 2018 can be accessed HERE(https://flic.kr/s/aHsmjVJfS3)
Offering the prayers of gratitude to God for the success of this important event for our parish, we joyously anticipate the next significant event that will take place in Washington, DC – the centennial celebration of the end of World War One.
We are using this opportunity to wholeheartedly invite you to join us in DC at this celebration, which on behalf of the Central Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church in USA is organized by the Diocese of Eastern America on July 25-29th, 2018. More information is forthcoming.
Source: Eastern American Diocese
