Prince George County Va Celebrates Its Czech-slovak Heritage at Annual Festival October 20
The sights, sounds and aromas of Czech and Slovak lifestyles will permeate the Prince George County Courthouse complex in Virginia, on October 20, 2018. Local residents will celebrate the sixth annual Virginia Czech and Slovak Folk Festival.
PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, Va., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --The sights, sounds and aromas of Czech and Slovak lifestyles will permeate the Prince George County Courthouse complex in Virginia, on October 20, 2018. Local residents will celebrate the sixth annual Virginia Czech & Slovak Folk Festival from 11 am to 4 pm on the lawn at the Prince George County Regional Heritage Center, 6406 Courthouse Road in Prince George. About 3,000 people attended the festival last year.
The festival celebrates the Czech & Slovak families who came to this region in the late 1800s. Many settled on farmland abandoned after the Civil War. The theme of this year's Festival is "Why Did They Come Here?" Many family stories will be told by descendants of the original settlers.
"These immigrants were very important to the overall lifestyle here. They were independent farmers, who restored the land to cultivation. And they brought with them a rich culture," said Carol Marks Bowman, executive director of the Prince George County Regional Heritage Center. "When they first came, they established their own community with churches, businesses, banks, schools and even their own baseball teams. Then they began to assimilate. Now, 131 years after the arrival of the first Czech immigrant, they celebrate their history and culture."
Attendees at the festival can enjoy good fun and fellowship, authentic Czech-Slovak food, including cabbage rolls, pork, sauerkraut and dumplings. They can shop at the bakery tables which sell traditional Kolaches and other Czech pastries; hear music by the Chesterfield Community Band and the Village Musicians; listen to choral music by the Czech Singers; dance the polka; see traditional crafts; play games on the lawn, and inspect the ever-popular farm life displays. Also, attendees will be able to visit the Czech and Slovak Immigration Gallery inside the Prince George County Regional Heritage Center.
WHY THE CZECHS AND SLOVAKS CAME HERE
The Czechs and Slovaks came from agricultural economies in Europe, looking for economic opportunity in America. With the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery in the U.S., the South's agricultural economy had collapsed. The land was in poor condition because battles had been fought here. Many of the immigrants had first settled on farmlands in the Northern and Midwestern states. But they were enticed by ads in Czech-and-Slovak-language newspapers placed by land agents and railroad companies, who advertised a warm climate and land for as little as $5 an acre in Virginia.
IF YOU WANT TO ATTEND THE FESTIVAL
For more information on the Virginia Czech & Slovak Folk Festival, contact the Heritage Center: http://www.princegeorgevahistoricalsociety.org, (804) 863-0212 or [email protected].
Visitors who want to attend the festival, can plan a weekend in the area. For details, please contact the Hopewell and Prince George, VA, tourism office: 1-800-863-8687. Travel advisors will be happy to share details on historic attractions, accommodations, food, musical performances and entertainment in and near Hopewell and Prince George, Virginia.
Hopewell/Prince George, Virginia, is located 20 miles south of Richmond, Virginia, situated on 35 miles of historic riverfront on the Appomattox and James Rivers. The Visitor Center is just off Interstate 295 between Richmond and Williamsburg and has major transportation arteries running through it – Route 10, Route 460, and I-85.
SOURCE Hopewell/PrinceGeorge Chamber of Commerce
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