The Serbian Festival is held at St. Sava Cathedral, where there are live music and children’s activities, as well as a wide selection of authentic Serbian food and desserts. The cathedral, which is open during the festival, is definitely worth visiting.
2024 DATE: TBA
Location: St. Sava Cathedral
6303 Broadview Rd
Parma, OH 44134
Website: https://www.stsavacathedral.org
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This post documents my experience on July 23, 2023.
I’ve also visited the festival in 2012, which you can read at https://ohiofestivals.net/serbian-festival-parma/
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Festival Structure/Getting Around the Festival
The Serbian Festival is a cultural parish festival put on my the St. Sava Cathedral in Parma.
As you drive in, the inflatables are some of the first things you see and children tend to beeline there from the parking lot.
Adults, meanwhile, may head to the giant tent…
…led there by the live entertainment…
…or simply for the bar.
But, if the music didn’t pull you in, the smell of the pork skewers and sausages did…
…and it did draw in the crowd.
A nearby beer garden helped make the wait fly by…
…as did a nearby vendor booth if you’re eyesight was decent.
Inside the church building…
…a sign posted in the hallway explained everything there was to do.
Before getting something to eat, it wasn’t a bad idea to go upstairs…
…and explore the cathedral.
From the stained glass windows…
…to the divine frescos…
…it was hard not to stand and stare at everything.
And, if you were interested, there were signs and cards throughout the cathedral to explain historic and cultural aspects, not to mention guides in the cathedral to answer any questions or to point out interesting things about the cathedral that you may have missed on your own.
The Large Hall
Back on the ground floor, an opening led to the Large Hall…
…and it had been redone since the last time I was there.
Almost everyone who attended the festival eventually came to this food line…
…only to follow with desserts…
…and possibly a beverage or coffee.
I’ll get into the food and desserts a little later.
In the back of the room, the cathedral had items for sale…
…primarily religious items and religious books in Serbian…
…while the tables along the side wall…
…were made up of Attic Treasures…
…and you never knew what you were going to find.
Food and Desserts
As you may have noticed at the top of this post, I have been to this festival once before, but, due to all the festivals I visited that day, I only purchased a piece of cake.
So, when someone from the festival invited me back to the festival for an updated review, she wanted to also make sure that I got to try some dishes for myself and get familiar with what they offered.
So, for your pleasure, I made sure to document many of the foods offered at the Serbian Festival so that you would also be familiar.
Here are some examples of dishes that you’ll be able to get in the years to come…
Stuffed cabbage and Chicken Paprikash and Dumplings
Gibanica (pastry with cottage cheese and egg) and Burek (pastry with ground meat).
Cabbage and Noodles.
Kiseli Kupus (pickled cabbage and smoked meat) and Serbian Style Potato Salad.
Of these dishes, I picked some chicken paprikash and dumplings – a full chicken thigh instead of pulled chicken – and huge dumplings, which were delicious. I also got a stuffed cabbage, which was also great and the way I like it (I don’t like it soaked in tomato juice)!
In regards to desserts…
…I feel every year is a collection of what parishioners make and bring in…
…because items were much more varied…
…and special.
This is the collection of desserts I decided to take home and all were delicious in their own way.
But I was particularly fond of the “little peaches”…
…as they turned out to be stuffed with crushed walnuts and marmalade.
Incredible!