One of the highlights of Silicon Valley is its diverse and multicultural population, which intertwines almost harmoniously in all spheres of life. More than 3 million people from all over the world live in an area slightly smaller than Lviv (121 square kilometers).
One of the areas of cultural cooperation is various ethnic events. Ukrainians in Northern California actively participate in such events to promote Ukrainian culture and national interests.
On August 14, 2021, Ukrainians took part in the international children’s festival Kids Fun Festival in Cupertino, CA. As one of the largest children’s festivals in Silicon Valley, Kids Fun Festival brings together more than 30,000 community members from across the San Francisco Bay Area. This annual celebration is dedicated to children of all ages and ethnicities and includes fun games, exhibits and international delicacies.
Iryna Kulchytska and her family (Mykola Zeleniak and daughters Gabriella and Isabella) and Yevhen Yankovskyi responded to Oleh Kernytskyi’s Facebook request for help in representing Ukraine at the festival and in a few days prepared a spectacular tent with elements of Ukraine’s ethnic and cultural heritage, traditional clothing and folk music.
As if in an energetic dance, the volunteers skillfully intertwined and shared responsibilities, encouraging hundreds of visitors to learn more about Ukraine. Watching them work so hard, it seemed as if they had been working together for decades, but in fact, this was probably the first time they had met at the tent.
Yevhen Yankovskyi and Oleh Kernytskyi were lively in introducing people to Ukraine’s geographical location, elements of its history, and its prominent places. As many of the visitors were from Taiwan, they skillfully interpreted the specifics of the historical relations between Russia and Ukraine, drawing parallels between China and Taiwan. Each of them also took care of colorful costumes, souvenirs, postcards, and various accessories.
Iryna Kulchytska and her family energetically encouraged guests with children to make pre-prepared paper crafts. The blue and yellow paper fans were especially popular, flying brightly throughout the park, performing a double function: to save guests from the August heat and to promote Ukrainian symbols. A real highlight of the tent was a photo zone they made themselves in the form of an old Ukrainian hut under a thatched roof, wicker fence and sunflowers. Hundreds of visitors took pictures wearing Ukrainian wreaths and straw hats.
Near the tent, people were learning the words “hello, thank you, and goodbye” and dancing to the lively music. It was nice to hear from the visitors that Ukraine had done well at the Tokyo Olympics, that someone had a best friend from Ukraine, while others had a department head, etc. Valentyna Bogdanova, Borys Senyk, Dmytro Savytsky, Oksana Tuck and many others also came to support their compatriots at the festival.
Although no one could have predicted the overwhelming success of the festival or even the number of visitors due to fears of Covid-19, the conclusion is clear: such events are extremely important for popularizing Ukrainian culture in Silicon Valley at the household level, which is no less important than large diplomatic missions. In addition, such festivals are also an important component of uniting and bringing the Ukrainian community closer together around common goals, because the strength of blue and yellow hearts is in unity.
(Iryna Kulchytska)
