There’s some dispute about which countries are in the Balkans. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia are definitely in. Greece and Turkey are kind of in – and kind of out. And what about Yugoslavia?
But there’s no dispute that the Balkan countries have fascinating histories and tremendous cultures. The cuisine is great, too.
Enjoy a bit of everything at the Zlatne Uste Golden Festival in Astoria on Friday, Jan. 17, and Saturday, Jan. 18.
This 39th annual bash celebrates Balkan traditions with food, handcrafted goods in a Charshiya marketplace, and music, music, music with four stages and more than 50 bands and choruses.
Organizers half-jokingly say that attendees feel like they’ve crashed the best wedding ever.
The 41-year-old Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band headlines the festival, naturally. Other performers include Slavic Soul Party and Novi Hitovi; Michael Winograd (Klezmer); Ukrainian Village Voices; Merita Halili, Raif Hyseni and the MSU Albanian-Balkan Ensemble; Scott Wilson and Efendi (Middle Eastern); Christos Tiktapanides (Pontian Greek); Amir Vahab Trio (Persian and Turkish), and Lubo Smilenov (Bulgarian). Middle Eastern, Ukrainian, Scandinavian groups are ready to add their spices, too. Click here for the full performance schedule.
General admission is $50 on Jan. 17, which runs from 7 pm to 12:30 am with a dance workshop at 7:30 pm. Those under age 30 pay $30, while those under age 13 can attend for free.
General admission is $79 on Jan. 18, which runs from 5:30 pm to 2 am. Those under age 30 pay $59, while those under age 13 can attend for free.
“It’s an experience you can only find in New York City,” stated Zlatne Uste Director Michael Ginsburg, who chairs the Golden Festival Organizing Committee. “You’ll hear music ranging from the most traditional to the avant-garde, meet recent immigrants and people whose families have been here for generations. You’ll see babies, octogenarians, and those of every age in between. People who have been coming every year since 1986 and some first-timers who are just discovering all of it.”
The Zlatne Uste Golden Festival is scheduled to take place in Astoria World Manor at 25-22 Astoria Blvd. There’s parking on site and on local streets. The Astoria Blvd station for the N and W lines is the closest subway stop.
Editor’s note: For the first time ever, the festival will have a Kafana on the second floor bridal suite on Jan. 17. Recalling a Balkan coffeehouse, Valentino and Erhan from Williamsburg’s Balkan Grind café will serve djezve-brewed java in an old-school sand pan heater. Samovar tea, baklava, lokum, and table games are also on the menu.
