Maslenitsa in the Park (Щедра Mасниця) - Fundraiser for Ukraine, Sarasota!

*PLEASE NOTE - THE LOCATION OF THE EVENT HAS BEEN CHANGED DUE TO WATER ISSUES AT THE ORIGINAL LOCATION.  THE NEW LOCATION IS PHILLIPPE ESTATE PARK GAZIBO*

SPRING FESTIVAL!

*All-You-Can-Eat blintzes (crepes) with over 10 toppings1

*Live Music

*Dancing

*Ukrainian traditional games and festivities

RSVP | Tickets online - $30 | Tickets at door - $35

U4U / TPS / Humanitarian Parolees - FREE admission

Questions / Info:

Ilona - (727) 644-4839

Olena - (941) 210-8255

Please don't forget to RSVP! You can buy tickets online.

MASLENITSYA or Maslina or Masnitza in Ukrainian - is a Eastern European sun festival, celebrating the imminent end of the winter and is equivalent to celebration of Mardi Gras.

The tradition of Maslenitsa dates back to pagan times, when folk would bid farewell to winter and welcome spring. As with many ancient holidays, Maslenitsa has a dual ancestry: pagan and Christian. 

On the pagan side, Maslenitsa was celebrated on the vernal equinox day. It marked the welcoming of spring, and was all about the enlivening of nature and bounty of sunny warmth.  

On the Christian side, Maslenitsa was the last week before the onset of Lent (fasting which precedes Easter), giving the last chance to bask in worldly delights.  The name of the holiday, Maslenitsa (derived from maslo, which means butter or oil) owes its existence to the tradition of baking pancakes (or blintzes). They are essential to the celebration of this holiday. On the one hand, hot, round, and golden, pancakes, as people believed, embody a little of the sun’s grace and might, helping to warm up the frozen earth.