Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival may not have been able to go ahead as planned this year, but organizers were determined to keep the spirit of the festival alive.
CNUF Second Vice President Nick Yakimishen tells CKDM the idea to host a virtual festival came up after the board was forced to postpone the event.
“Beginning of July we discussed it as a board and decided it would be nice to still do something for that weekend, and keep the spirit of the festival alive.”
Following a parade through town on the decorated CNUF float on Friday, festival organizers invited the community to tune in to their Virtual Grandstand Variety Show on Saturday evening.
(CNUF parade float outside the Dauphin Market Place Mall on Friday)
Yakimishen says the nearly 3-hour virtual show was well received by the festival community.
“I’ve had a few people say they didn’t realize what the Ukrainian festival was all about, and now that they’ve seen the virtual online show — they’re more interested in coming to the festival in the coming years.”
Looking ahead, Nick says the CNUF organizers are hoping the festival can proceed as normal next year, and get back to what the community has come to expect over the last 54 years.
