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Polish Day moves, expands
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
This weekend’s Polish Day festival will be held in a new location with an expanded schedule.
The ethnic celebration will move to the Austintown Plaza parking lot, where a mega-tent will be erected. The fest had been at St. Anne’s Church hall since its inception in 2009.
Polish Day will also add a kick-off party Saturday evening. Titled Zabawa, which loosely translates as a party with dancing, it will begin at 5 p.m. and will feature four bands.
The new location should make the event more open to the community.
“The folks at the Austintown Plaza heard we were looking at new venues,” said Aundrea Heschmeyer, director of festival organizer Polish Youngstown. “They feel strongly that the plaza is the center of the Austintown community and are reaching out to groups like ours.”
Polish Day will center around a huge tent, which will have a stage, dance floor and seating. It will include two bars, a vendors marketplace and a basket auction.
Seven Roses Polish Deli of Cleveland will take over the kitchen at O’Donold’s Irish Pub, which is in Ausintown Plaza, for the day and will serve platters and a la carte items, including their famous potato pancakes.
An empty storefront next to O’Donold’s will be used as a bakery and for cultural displays and classes.
While Polish Day has an emphasis on tradition, history and culture, and features folk music and dance, Zabawa will keep it current.
“Our goal with [Zabawa] is to capture a little of what it would be like to be in a fun club in today’s Poland,” said Hesch-meyer. “Since the demise of communism, Poland has become a cultural leader in Eastern Europe, both economically and culturally. More than half of its population is young and college-educated and eager to celebrate what they feel is great about being a Polish European. So we have brought together a mix of dance, polka, funk and jazz bands that reflect the eclectic mix of music you hear in clubs today. Frankly, it was always a stretch to find a polka in Poland in the 20th century but today it is becoming ‘cool,’ with student radio stations seeking out Americans to ship over their old LPs.”
Performing at Zabawa will be Polka Pirates, Hoss and the Juggernauts, Winslow and the unique and youthful Chardon Polka Band, which has a pop flair.
No matter how globalized Poland becomes, Poles’ love of pierogi remains a constant.
“When I was in Poland, I loved going into a little shop that offered nothing but 50 varieties of pierogi and crepes,” said Heschmeyer. “The problem for us here in Youngstown is a limited variety that is available. So we are changing that for a night, offering eight different varieties, including dessert pierogi with sweet cheese or blueberries. We’ve made sure there will be an all-you-can-eat bar, and a pizzarogi, because we are foremost Americans, and those are things we like.”
In that spirit, the annual Pierogi Eating Contest will be moved to Saturday night’s Zabawa. Registration for the 10 spots will be open until 8 p.m., with the event starting at 8:30 p.m.
Festivalgoers can also participate in a beer-tasting and take part in a team working with Rust Belt Brewery of Youngstown to develop a beer that combines American and Polish tastes.