33rd Annual Slovak Heritage Festival

November 5, 2023 - 12:00pm to 4:00pm

Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Slovak Fest is back!

On Sunday, November 5, 2023, from 12:00PM to 4:00PM, the Slovak Studies Program, with the help of our generous sponsors, will host the 33rd Annual Slovak Heritage Festival in the Commons Room of the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland. We are excited to be back again for a joyous day of Slovak culture, history, food, crafts, and education.  

Admission is free, and masks are optional.  Street parking is free on Sunday. 

Schedule of Events:

Festival Main Stage - Cathedral of Learning Commons Room - 1st Floor
12:00  Opening, Slovak National Anthem, Introductions
12:15  Fujara Music by Ben Sorensen
12:45  Slovak Accordion Songs by Alena Kotlan
  1:00  Pittsburgh Area Slovaks (PAS) Folk Ensemble
  1:20  Accordion Performance by Jozef Ivaska
  1:40  Helene Cincebeaux’s Parade of Kroj
  2:25  Rusynskŷ Betjare (Rusyn Rascals)
  3:30  The Pittsburgh Slovakians
 
Lectures
1:00 in room 232 Cathedral – Donald Warhola 
2:00 in room 332 Cathedral – Joe Bielecki 
3:00 in room 332 Cathedral – Alena Kotlan and Ben Sorensen 
 
Keynote: "Andy Warhol: Early Family and Eastern European Influences"
1:00 PM in Room 232 Cathedral of Learning

Donald Warhola is the Vice President and board member of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Laison to The Andy Warhol Museum where he acts as the Warhola family historian and also works directly with the Learning and Public Engagement Department at the museum. Before his uncle's death, Donald spent lots of time with Andy Warhol and remembers him fondly, using his memories to tell the story of the human side of the artist we all know and love. 

Lecture: "The Sokol Movement from its inception in Europe to its arrival in the United States and how it has morphed and changed"
2:30 PM in Room 332 Cathedral of Learning

Joe Bielecki, BA, MA, JD Is the National President of Sokol USA. He is also an officer on the Board of Directors of the World Sokol Federation in Prague and is a practicing attorney on Pittsburgh's South Side. Joe has been an officer of the Czechoslovak Room Committee at the University of Pittsburgh's Nationality Rooms and is on the Board of Advisors to the Western Pa. Slovak Cultural Association. He has given numerous talks and lectures on immigrant history and Slovak culture and customs to a wide variety of groups in Pennsylvania. He is also on the board of directors of GBU Life, a large Pittsburgh regional life insurance company. Joe was also the recipient of a 1982 Fulbright Scholarship and studied in Eastern Europe. 

"Slovak Folk Music" Lecture and Workshop
3:00 PM in Room 332 Cathedral of Learning

Alena Kotlan is a native of Slovakia, who continues to share her love of Slovak folk culture and music even after relocating to the USA. During her university studies in Slovakia, she was a soloist singer in an ensemble “Lúčnica”, a Slovak National Folklore Ballet. She was also a member of a singing group “Vajana”, which performed and recorded many Slovak folk songs with the “Orchester ľudových nástrojov” (Orchestra of Folk Instruments) in the recording studio of the Slovak Radio in Bratislava. Currently, Alena works and lives with her family in Massachusetts. She continues to maintain and spread the beautiful Slovak folk culture - she volunteers as a teacher of Slovak folk music, culture, and traditions to children in the Slovak School of M.R. Štefánik in Boston. She is also a Board Advisor at the Czech & Slovak Association in Boston. She accompanies her singing with an accordion, and will take you on a journey to the different regions of Slovakia through her music. 

Ben Sorensen is currently a history lecturer at Cape Fear Community College in North Carolina. He became interested in Slovak culture and music when he moved to Spišská Nová Ves in 2002 to teach English. He learned to play fujara from his good friend and fujara maker, the late Dušan Holík, in Očová. He speaks Slovak fluently and holds a BA in History and Music as well as an MA in History. He is ABD at the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra, Slovakia; his research focuses on Slovak Immigration to the USA and the Slovak role in American labor history. 

Tabling and Advertising Deadline Extended to Friday, October 13:

This year we are updating our processes, and ask that all Vendor/Display Table Requests as well as Program Booklet Advertisements be submitted through our new online forms at the links provided.  

While the Slovak Heritage Festival is proud of our traditions, we also want to use the best tools at our disposal to organize a great event. We had requested this information by October 6, but have extended the deadline to this Friday, October 13 so that everyone has a chance to fill out the new form.  Tabling applicants can expect to hear responses back from us next Monday, October 16.

Slovak Heritage Festival 2023 Program Advertising Form:  https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9zacto3bWn0QwKy 

Slovak Heritage Festival 2023 Vendor and Display Tabling Application:   https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aYl26ERKvYggmWy 

Checks for program ads, tabling, or general support of the festival can be made out to “The University of Pittsburgh” with “Slovak Heritage Festival” in the memo line, and mailed to: 

 Slavic Department, 12th Floor 
 c/o Slovak Heritage Festival 
 1228 Cathedral of Learning   4200 Fifth Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15260 

Stay connected with Slovak Fest:

The Slovak Heritage Festival has an active community Facebook page, and you can watch the complete pandemic-era virtual festival videos on our YouTube channel.

If you would like to be added to the Slovak Heritage Festival email list so that you never miss a festival, please write to <slavic@pitt.edu>

Thank you to our sponsors!