Free, family friendly Eastern Europe and Russia Culture Fest on April 10 at Miller Branch Library

Celebrate many of the cultures of Eastern Europe and Russia at an afternoon full of entertaining demonstrations, music, dance, displays and food.

The Eastern Europe and Russia Culture Fest is a free, family-friendly event on Sunday, April 10 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Miller Branch Library, 9421 Frederick Road in Ellicott City. The event is being hosted by Columbia Association (CA) and the Howard County Library System.

Performers scheduled for the Culture Fest include the Kalinka Dance Ensemble of Baltimore; Bulgarian folk dances by the Hristo Botev Academy and the Bulgarian Culture Center of Baltimore “Dora Gabe”; the Columbia International Folk Dancers; the Columbia Jewish Congregation Klezmer Orchestra; Anastasia Tsyganok; songs and Ukrainian bandura music by Solomia Maria Dutkewych; and romantic improvisation with bayan playing by Peter Slutsky and Eugene Borovikov. There also will be Serbian costumes by Biljana Regan; painting of pysanky, or Ukrainian Easter eggs; free samples of Eastern European baked goods prepared by the Orthodox Church of Saint Matthew; and other exhibitors and activities.

Photos of the exhibitors, performers and audience members will be taken at the event. Families attending the event will be able to pick up a “Culture Fest Passport,” complete it by visiting exhibitors’ tables and then enter it into a drawing for prizes.

Local residents from Russia and all of the countries that make up Eastern Europe are invited to attend and show the Howard County community what makes their country and culture unique. Russian and Eastern European dress is encouraged. For more information, contact Laura Smit, program manager for CA’s International Exchange and Multicultural Programs, by calling 410-715-3162 or sending an email to International@ColumbiaAssociation.org.

This is CA’s 10th culture fest. Previous culture fests highlighted Latin America, West Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Ghana, North Africa and the Middle East, the Caribbean; South America; and Western Europe.

CA's International Exchange and Multicultural Programs foster international understanding and celebrate the diverse cultures of Columbia. The goals of the International Exchange Program include developing new exchanges with Columbia's four sister cities and creating new Sister City relationships in other cities and nations. CA also develops multicultural programs for the community such as the World Languages Café, Culture Fests, the International Book Club and the World Food Passport program. For more information, go to ColumbiaAssociation.org/Multicultural.

About Columbia Association

Columbia Association (CA) is a nonprofit community services corporation that manages Columbia, MD, a planned community that is home to approximately 100,000 people and several thousand businesses. Additional information about CA is available at ColumbiaAssociation.org.