The first SerbFest on Sunday serves up a range of the Balkan people’s food and drinks, including on-site barbecued lamb, cevapcici, or minced meat, chicken kebabs, kielbasa, cabbage rolls and pastries, along with imported wines and beers and the traditional toast of slivovitz, or damson plum brandy.
That last might help you to learn and try kolo, the traditional Serbian circle dance. Or you can watch folk dancers do it and listen to tunes from folk musicians and a Serbian DJ.
The region’s Serbian-American community is helping to make the event a good time. Co-chair Marco Trbovich, who will play with the Srpski Sinovi (“Sons of Serbia”) Orchestra, notes that kolachi, strudel and other pastries are being donated by volunteer bakers from Serbian Orthodox parishes in McKeesport, Whitehall, and Steubenville, Ohio.
The cultural festival is sponsored by the Tri-State Committee of the Lifeline Humanitarian Organization, with all contributions made during it going to that group’s 25-year efforts to help orphaned and disabled children of Serbia.
In the past three years, the regional group has raised $250,000 and given it to upgrade orphanages, schools and other facilities. The group will continue to raise funds this “silver anniversary” year, through a Balkan Night in October at the club.
“There are no administration costs in this organization. It’s all volunteer work,” Mr. Trbovich says of Lifeline, which was started by Serbia’s Princess Katherine Karadjordjevic. ‘“It’s an extraordinary organization.”
Sunday’s event runs from noon to 7 p.m. and admission is free; net proceeds from food and drink sales as well as donations will go to Serbia. The club is located at 2524 Sarah St., Pittsburgh, PA 15203.
For more information on nonprofit Lifeline, visit lifelinechicago.org.
Bob Batz Jr.: bbatz@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1930 and on Twitter @bobbatzjr.
First Published: June 28, 2018, 1:45 p.m.