Pitt to Host 21st Annual Slovak Heritage Festival Nov. 6

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh Slovak Studies Program and the Pitt Student Slovak Club will present the 21st Annual Slovak Heritage Festival from 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 6 in the Commons Room of the Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Ave., Oakland.

The free event will include performances by such local artists as the Pittsburgh Slovakians, the Slavjane Folk Ensemble, the Pittsburgh Area Slovaks, and the University of Pittsburgh Carpathian Ensemble. Also among the festival’s many performers are the returning professional Slovakian artists The Singing Revil’ak Family and Jozef Ivaska.

The Singing Revil’ak Family has received numerous awards in nationwide laureate folklore competitions in Bratislava and Zilina, Slovakia. The ensemble has produced many CDs, which will be available for purchase at the festival. Ivaska, the other featured Slovakian artist, also will have his CDs available. Ivaska, who is making his fifth concert tour of the United States, performs with the Metropolitan Operetta Theatre in Baden, Austria. Among his other accomplishments was discovering the rock group Sirius in the early 1980s.  

The festival also will feature cultural displays and lectures, ethnic foods and pastries, and vendors with merchandise from Slovakia and neighboring European countries.

For more information, contact Christine Metil at 412-624-5906 or metil@pitt.edu.

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10/25/11/mab/lks/jdh