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The Anacortes-based Vela Luka Croatian Dance Ensemble is nationally and internationally known. The group’s popular annual fundraiser, now renamed ‘Festa,’ is Saturday, May 10 at the new Croatian Cultural Center. Photos by Jal Schrof.
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Croatian music, dancing and delicacies are in store at Vela Luka Croatian Dance Ensemble’s 2008 Spring Festa, Saturday, May 10 at the Croatian Cultural Center at Fifth Street and R Avenue. Doors open at 5:30 and dinner is served at 6 p.m.
Tickets to the event are $50 for adults and $10 for children under 13. Reservations must be made by Friday, May 2. Call 293-3663 or e-mail .
“Festa” is a Croatian word for “celebration,” said Maria Petrish, a founder of the critically acclaimed ensemble. The event, the troupe’s biggest annual fundraiser, was formerly known as the Patron’s Party, but Petrish said “Festa” seems particularly appropriate this year as the group throws a housewarming for its new cultural center.
The feast includes the traditional six antipasti followed by herbed salmon, Dalmatian-style pasta with marinara, fresh garden salad, circle breads and an assortment of delicious Croatian pastries and libations. There will be joyous participatory dancing to the music of the Ruze Dalmatinke Orchestra and special guests Dave & the Dalmatians.
Since the Vela Luka Croatian Dance Ensemble was founded in 1975, the Anacortes-based group has amassed an impressive list of achievements, including worldwide tours, television documentaries by ABC and PBS, local television and radio coverage and publication of books and audio recordings.
The troupe represented the state of Washington at the rededication of the Statue of Liberty in New York and at Expo 1986 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The dancers were featured at the Washington State centennial in 1989, Voices West in Salt Lake City in 1991,1993 and 1994, and the opening celebration of Benaroya Hall in Seattle in 1998. The ensemble toured Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1988, 1990 and 2000.
Among the ensemble’s prestigious honors and tributes is the Governor’s heritage Award from the Washington State Arts Commission.
The new Croatian Cultural Center is housed in a newly renovated and expanded 1891 church built on property that once belonged to Annie Curtis and Amos Bowman. The original structure boasts beautifully restored woodwork, and the new addition features an inner courtyard, a fully equipped commercial kitchen and vestibule.
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