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Macedonian Festival in Blasdell

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Contributed by: Buffalo.com/YourHub Timothy Barnett on 7/18/2008

This past weekend the 18th annual Macedonian festival kicked off at Saints Cyril & Methody Macedonian Orthodox Church. This festival celebrates the culture of Macedonia with food, pastries, music and dancing. The kabobs, lamb, and cabbage rolls were as they are every year, bang for your buck. They give you enough food to feed two people on one plate, and not that expensive either. The cost ranges from $6 to $12, depending on the dish. The pastries included baklava, nut rolls, and peanut butter cookies were a major attraction to the attendees.

The guest of honor for the festival was the Ambassador of Macedonia, Zoran Jolevski Ph.D from the Macedonian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Before the dancing began, the Ambassador said a few words in the native tongue to congratulate the Saints Cyril & Methody Macedonian Orthodox Church for putting together this annual festival which grows each year.

This festival brings in seven thousand to ten thousand people from all over the country, some that are of Macedonian heritage and some that just come to enjoy ethnic food and dance. In the Toronto metropolitan area alone, there is almost 40,000 Macedonians, and still speak the language fluently. Walter Mitskovski, the supervisor of the events at the Macedonian Festival, explained to me, "This is the only true Macedonian Greek Orthodox Church in Western New York. The other churches that use Macedonia in their name are referring to the early Christian beliefs associated with the time that Macedonia was one of the greatest nations in the world."

This year's event was projected to be the largest since it began 18 years ago. With ethnic bands and dance groups from Ohio, Toronto, and Hamilton, Ontario, the feeling that you got when watching these performance made you want to join in the celebration of being Macedonian. This culture is so rich in history and tradition that it is a "hidden treasure" we have here in Western New York that hopefully more people will catch on to in the coming years!

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Buffalo.com/YourHub Timothy Barnett

Lackawanna , NY

Buffalo.com/YourHub Timothy Barnett has posted 6 stories and 0 comments since joining on 2/13/2008. Buffalo.com/YourHub Timothy Barnett's average story rating is 5.

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