SLAVIC SPRING FESTIVAL:

WHAT: The Slavic Cultural Festival Committee (SCFC) of the George Washington University will be hosting the first Slavic Spring Festival in Washington DC that brings all slavic nations together. This celebration of Slavic culture and history, a meeting of Slavic representatives and officials, is unprecedented in scope. All are cordially invited to partake in a day of traditional Slavic cuisine, dance, and folk music. The feature performance will be the 2004 winner of Eurovision Song Contest, Ruslana!

Initially, the festival concept envisioned an informal gathering for Slavic students and their respective embassies. However, thanks to the diligence and enthusiasm of the national representatives, the size of the guest list and level of prestige far exceeded the original scope of the project.

The festival is aimed at reaching unity through diversity and is a large undertaking combining the direction and input of the embassies of Ukraine as well as Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. There will be ambassadors and prominent politicians from all corners of the Slavic world to reveal their unique national perspective and historical heritage. Representatives of Congress and various US government agencies will also be in attendance. Foreign and local mass media is welcome and encouraged to cover the event.

The Festival will also feature a fair with stands and free traditional food from the participating cultures. Special festivities will be organized for children including theatrical performances, traditional Slavic games, as well as workshops in various Slavic traditional crafts.

Ukrainian singer Ruslana Lyzhichko (the 2004 winner of Eurovision and now a member of Ukraine's Parliament), as well as Janoshik/Monique Legare International Dance Company (Polish/Ukrainian dance group) are scheduled to be among the participating performers. This event will be broadly covered by the International and US Mass Media (Voice of America, UNIAN, The Washington Post, etc.).

WHEN: Saturday, March 31 The Festival will be held from 12:00pm to 7:00pm

WHERE: University Yard George Washington University 21st and "H" Streets, N.W. Washington, DC.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: If you would like more information about this event or to schedule an interview with The Slavic Cultural Festival Committee, please contact Andrew Mariyanich at 267-255-3631 or e-mail at andryxamar@gmail.com. Alternative contact is Jim Hess (George Washington University Executive Director, Office of University Events), e-mail: hessje@gwu.edu http://www.scfcusa.org