Ukrainian Day in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

On Sunday, August 22, 2021, a festive concert to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence with the participation of the Ukrainian diaspora called "Ukrainian Day" was held in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The host of the concert, as is tradition, was singer Maria Cherepenko. The audience present, many of whom were wearing embroidered shirts and carrying blue and yellow flags, actively welcomed her when she announced the start of the concert and gave a welcoming speech to the clergy of Ukrainian churches, who called for prayers for the fate of Ukraine. Then the park orchestra played the anthem of Ukraine and the anthem of the United States, and everyone present honored this by standing up. After that, a large concert began, which lasted about 2 hours and was very popular with those present. Here is the list of concert numbers and their performers:

– the dance group "Golden Poppies" performed several dance etudes on a Ukrainian theme;

– the performance of Ukrainian melodies by a trio of bandurists led by Olga Gerasimenko was touching;

-Lesya Zabashta sang Platon Maiboroda’s song to the words of Andriy Malyshko “We will go where the grass is bent”;

– the children’s dance ensemble surprised the audience with an incendiary dance;

– the singer of the San Francisco Opera Theater, Ms. Svitlana Nikitenko, performed her aria wonderfully and professionally;

– after that, the representative of the Consulate General of Ukraine in San Francisco, Ms. Anna Zinchenko, congratulated everyone present on the 30th anniversary of Independence;

– the symphony orchestra of the park delighted the audience with the performance of the melody “My Country”;

– the mezzo-soprano of singer Maria Cherepenko (she is also the host of the concert), who performed the song to the words of D. Lutsenko, music by I. Shamo “My Kyiv”, transported us to distant Kyiv;

– The choir from Sacramento “Kolyada” under the direction of Mr. Andriy Kryshtafovich sang the song “Ukraine will live forever”;

– the audience applauded the performance of opera arias and Ukrainian songs by the famous singer Ivanna Taratula-Filipenko with loud applause;

– the fiery music of the ensemble “Buryma” left no one indifferent, the song “Chervona Ruta” was sung by everyone present;

– the singer Anychka sang the song “My Ukraine”, and then the children sang a song about the Ukrainian language with her;

– two dance ensembles “Zoloti Maki” and “Veselka” caused a flurry of emotions when they danced the Ukrainian dance “Hopak”;

– at the end, the choir “Kolyada” together with the audience performed the anthem of Ukraine;

– Maria Cherepenko thanked all the participants of the concert, the orchestra for their wonderful performances, and all those present for their attention.

The concert ended, but those present did not want to leave for a long time, wanting to prolong the time of parting with Ukrainian art.

(Myroslav Grekh)