COURIER L 12 IFE, JAN. 25–31, 2019 DT
Boogieing Balkan style
Locals bust a move at beloved music fest
BY COLIN MIXSON
Brooklyn Balk-ed up!
Thousands of local music lovers
tore up not one, not two, but fi ve dance
fl oors at Park Slope’s gilded Grand
Prospect Hall on Jan. 19 during the
latest installment of an annual festival
featuring folk sounds from the Balkans.
The 35th-annual Golden Festival
— known for its tunes original to such
southern European countries as Albania,
Macedonia, and Montenegro —
kicked off on Jan. 18, but things really
got groovy when more than 60 bands
took the opulent venue’s stages for an
eight-hour performance on its second
and last day, according to a performer.
“It was great,” said Nadia Grisaru,
a singer with Yale University’s Women’s
Slavic Chorus who traveled from
faraway Connecticut to perform with
her group. “It’s always so much fun.”
But the sprawling Hall didn’t just
transform into a massive dance fl oor
during the fest hosted by local band
Zlatne Uste — it also served as a hub
for Near East cuisine, thanks to vendors
who hawked all sorts of authentic,
Ottoman-inspired fare, according to a
participating chef.
“It’s a wide-ranging menu, with traditional
dishes not often seen in New
IN THE GROOVE: Festively dressed music
fans hit the dance fl oor at the 35th-annual
Golden Festival in Park Slope.
Photo by Caroline Ourso
York City,” said Ethan Frisch, who
served as a kitchen volunteer at the
event for the fi fth-consecutive year.
The festival’s unique music and
cuisine draws a similarly one-of-akind
crowd each year, and last weekend’s
hodgepodge of attendees — who
included kids, oldsters, and folks of
most every age in between — was no
exception, according to Frisch.
“That’s the coolest thing about it,
the festival is so specifi c and esoteric
in its conception,” he said. “It’s not
marketed beyond very specifi c groups
of people, but people show up and they
love it.”
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