Festivals in Globeville

The eastern European immigrants who settled Globeville in the 1880s are long gone, but they left a robust legacy of their native cultures in the neighborhood. To experience the ethnic churches, food, crafts, dancing, singing and beer! of the old country, attend one or all of the church festivals.
The first of these celebrations will be the 15th Annual Orthodox Food Festival at Holy Transfiguration of Christ Orthodox Cathedral, 349 E 47th Avenue (at Logan Street). This grand event will be held only one day, Saturday, July 21, 2018, from 11:00 am to 7:30 pm. Bring Tupperware and stock up on astounding array of cuisine from Romania, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Eritrea, Italy, Greece and Mexico, as well as grilled lamb, hot dogs, craft beer and Slivovitz (Slovenian plum brandy). 
There will be live entertainment, games for children, crafts, and an exhibit of iconography. The jewel in this festival is the beautiful (and newly painted) Orthodox Cathedral. Any building that's one-hundred-twenty years old has stories to tell (their three bells were a gift of the last Czar) and a tour of the cathedral is one you will remember. Globeville Orthodox Festival

 

Take a tour of the historic cathedral

So much food, such variety!

The next big thing is the Polish Food Festival at St. Joseph Polish Parish at the corner of 46th Avenue and Pearl Street - this is the red church spire visible from I-70. Check the program for prices of food and Polish beer, and the schedule of entertainment. Polish Food Festival

 

Krakowiacy Polish dancers

Celebrations for the festival at Holy Rosary Church are still in the planning stages. Save the date, Saturday October 6th. There will be food! Check the website for information. Holy Rosary Denver

Polish Food Festival - August 12 and 13

Saturday, August 12, from noon until 9:00 pm

Sunday, August 13, from noon until 7:00 pm

St. Joseph's Polish Roman Catholic Church, 517 E 46th

for details, see

 http://polishfoodfestival.org/

Polish Food:
Pierogi (Polish Dumplings), Gołąbki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls), Hunter Stew (Bigos),
Potato Pancakes (Placki Ziemniaczane), Kiełbasa (Polish Sausage), Kaszanka (Blood Sausage), and more! Price: $6-$8 per meal
Polish Beer: Perła, Żywiec, Warka, Okocim, Lech, Łomża. Price: $6 per large 0.5L bottle
Polish Pastries: All delicacies are home-made by the ladies of our parish. Great variety of small-batch creations. Price: $3 per piece

Krakowiacy Polish Dancers

Globeville Feasts, Festivals and Food Summer 2015

Where can you experience the faith traditions of Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Croatia and Mexico and enjoy pierogi, pelmini, potica, tamales and beer? At one of several religious feasts, festivals and parish events in Globeville this summer.
The first event, the feast of Corpus Christi (the body of Christ) occurs at St Joseph Polish Church at 46th and Pearl on Sunday, June 7, after 10:30 am Mass. Four altars are decorated throughout Globeville and parishioners form a procession under a canopy, praying, singing, and scattering rose petals at each site. The first Altar will be decorated by the English-speaking congregation, and the rest by the Polish-speaking members of the parish. This tradition is observed in Europe and also in Mexico. St. Joseph's Polish Catholic Church

One of the Polish altars

The largest festival is the two-day Orthodox Food Festival and Old Globeville Days, July 18yh and 19th. There will be lamb roasting on a spit, every kind of ethnic food a person could want, craft beer (and that Eastern European specialty a shot of Slivovitz - Slovenian plum brandy - and a beer) Irish dancers, Ukranian choirs, Serbian musicians, Aztec dancers, bands, and accordions provide entertainment, as well as activities for the children, crafts, books, toys and representatives from neighborhood associations. There will be demonstrations of icon painting as well as tours of historic Orthodox Cathedral

Holy Transfiguration of Christ Cathedral

Tour the beautiful Orthodox temple

The Annual Polish Food Festival will be on Saturday, August 22nd and Sunday, August 23rd in the parking lot behind the school. Galumpkis, pierogi, sauerkraut, kielbasa, sausage and Polish beer. Polish bands and Krakowiacy dancers entertain you.

Holy Rosary Parish bazaar, Sunday, September 5th. Plans are underway for a festival that features Slovenian, Croatian and Mexican food, music and entertainment.
Holy Rosary Parish

Historic churches in Globeville

Shot-gun houses fill the long, narrow lots, iron and wooden fences define each yard and sheds, re-purposed chicken coops and barns line the unpaved alleys. Economically, Globeville is a poor neighborhood, but historically, tiny Globeville is rich. Each small home contains the story of an immigrant with a low-paying job, sending for relatives from the Old Country and building a better life in America. Hard-working and painfully frugal, these newcomers saved and planned for a generation to build their own ethnic churches, a link to their native cultures and a celebration of the freedom of worship that brought many here. By 1920, the neighborhood was home to three Volga-German congregations, a Russian-Serbian Orthodox Church, St. Joseph's Polish Roman Catholic Church, Holy Rosary Church, the Greenwood Methodist and the Seventh Day Adventist Churches. As the founders passed on and their descendants assimilated and moved away, congregations would struggle and not all the churches would survive. 
As the remaining parishes reached milestone anniversaries, parishioners experienced a renewed interest in their ethnic heritage, and looked for ways to celebrate their legacy with official historic status. Three of Globeville's ethnic churches have received historic designation: St. Joseph's Polish Roman Catholic Church is on the National Register, while both Holy Transfiguration Cathedral and Holy Rosary Parish are on the Colorado State Register. St. Joseph's at 517 East 46th Avenue, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The listing from the National Register states that "the Gothic style church was constructed in 1902 to serve Polish immigrants in the Globeville suburb of Denver." What the description doesn't say is that Globeville's Poles were from the Russian-controlled Plock region of Poland, where their religion, language and culture had been suppressed, that they would save for nearly 20 years, and then petition the German-born Bishop Matz to build a parish "exclusively for the Polanders." The congregation obtained Father Jarzynski (a Holy Cross priest from the same Plock region as many parishioners) and held Mass, confession, baptism and marriages in the home of Frank Wargin until the church was completed on Christmas Day, 1902. The church was a connection to Poland at a time the nation had ceased to exist, and much of the life of the Polish community was centered around St. Joseph's. There were processions for the feast of Corpus Christi, blessings of food before Easter, as well as Mass after the secular celebrations of Polish Constitution Day and the birthday of Casimir Pulaski. There was the Polish Literary Club, an organization for young people, that produced Polish plays, raising money for the parish and entertaining the community. There were also choirs, music performances, fraternal organizations, mock Polish weddings and parish bazaars.
The parish survived the Depression, World War II, assimilation, the division of the neighborhood by interstate highways and inadequate services from the city of Denver to make it for 110 years. With an infusion of new arrivals from Poland and enthusiastic support from the descendants of the founders, St. Joseph's is again the source of Polish culture, with Masses in both English and Polish, Polish language classes, Polish music and dance performances. Visit the website, or stop by (Lent is coming!) and experience the rich faith, food, culture and traditions of Poles in Globeville.  
St Joseph's Polish Roman Catholic Church

Funeral at St. Joseph's circa 1910, Photo® property of Mary Lou Egan

St. Joseph's circa 2013, photo® property of Mary Lou Egan