The Polish Festival hosted by Riverhead Polish Hall took its first steps on a course to expand its celebration beyond the Polish Hall property yesterday, with vendors along a stretch of Pulaski Street and a re-enactement of a traditional Polish wedding at St. Isidore’s Church. The Polish festival this year also included Polish dance performances and the crowning of a Polish Hall queen — and king.
The street vendors, wedding re-enactment, dance performances and Polish Town royalty were mainstays of the Polish Town Street Fair and Festival presented every August in Polish Town by the Polish Town Civic Association, beginning in 1975. The fair was canceled by COVID-19 in 2020 and has not returned.
In the years prior to the 2020 cancellation, Polish Hall had been hosting a celebration of Polish heritage, with refreshments, food and music, on the weekend of the civic association’s two-day event. When the civic announced it would not produce its event in 2021, Polish Hall announced it would hold a Polish festival of its own that summer. With the civic association canceling the fair in 2022 and again the year, Polish Hall has grown its event — this year, adding the crowning of a queen and king, dance performances, a mock wedding and street vendors.
“We do hope to keep expanding on it every year with vendors of handmade and homemade crafts and goodies,” Keri Najdzion, who welcomed visitors yesterday on behalf of Polish Hall, said yesterday.
The first Polish Hall king and queen were Alan Zilnicki and Ashley Podlas, both lifelong Riverhead residents with strong Polish roots, Najdzion said. Assembly Member Jodi Giglio, who Najdzion said was instrumental in soliciting nominations for the honorary king and queen titles, placed the crown on Ashley. Polish Hall President Tom Najdzion crowned the king. The crowns were donated by The Birchwood of Polish Town through Slatnick Jewelers, Keri Najdzion said.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl
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