For more than a century, Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church has celebrated its feast day with a festival featuring ethnic delicacies, particularly pierogi, and entertainment.
“Parishioners started it to celebrate Saints Peter and Paul. It would be their biggest fundraiser of the year,” said the Rev. Vasyl Sendeha, priest at the church. “It’s actually July 12, the saint day of Peter and Paul, so around that date they would have that festival on a Sunday.”
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The Ukrainian Pierogie Festival, begun 115 years ago – as long as the parish has been around – moved to the first Sunday in August after a pause of a few years during the pandemic. This year’s event starts at noon Aug. 4 at the church, 8410 W 131 St. in Palos Park.
The event, which typically draws 600 to 700 people, has changed a bit over the years. “What I hear from the history of the parish, they would raffle off a car,” Sendeha said. “I think that was in the 1960s. We don’t do that.”
One of the biggest changes is what happens with the money raised. Previously, it went toward parish activities, but after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, proceeds have been devoted to Ukrainian causes.
But even that focus has evolved.
“We used to send a lot of money to aid and cover the cost of shipping (supplies) to Ukraine. People would donate bandages, for instance,” Sendeha explained. “Now we’re focusing more on the people who are here. A lot of people have come, especially to Chicagoland. We’re helping people here in terms of helping them with rent financially or if they need supplies. They come with just a suitcase sometimes or a backpack. They have nothing.”
Building on their ties to Ukraine and their faith is an important component of the festival.
“As a priest, I do church tours where I show people the church and tell them the history of the parish. It’s a very rich history,” Sendeha shared. Although the church was officially incorporated in Illinois in 1909, it’s been around even longer. “We have the records and saw they had been getting together to pray in the late 1800s.”
Sendeha, who came to the parish 14 years ago, hails from the same place in Ukraine where the church’s founders did – the western part of the country near the Polish border. But the church welcomes all Orthodox Christian followers.
“Even though we’re Orthodox, we have a lot of ethnicities in our parish because we welcome everybody from all ethnic backgrounds: Belarus, Pakistani, people from Greece, Spain, Serbia, European countries. They’re all Orthodox,” he explained.
The festival also offers a chance to share the church’s traditions. “It lets the neighboring community get to know us here – Ukrainians here. Not only food but also our culture, such as with dancing. And that we’re Christians,” he said. “People are pretty surprised. I’ve had Catholics be surprised. They thought an Orthodox church was not a Christian church. It gives us an opportunity to tell them who we are.”
Sendeha’s wife, Olena Levko-Sendeha, has been involved with the festival since shortly after they arrived in Palos Park. “I’ve been hands-on since we came in, so this is my 13th festival picnic,” she said.
Her role includes organizing people to help run the different stations, as well as finding sponsors and leading the basket raffle. “That is one of the very big hits that we do every year,” she said. “A lot of the stuff is donated because people are trying to help out the good cause of the church, especially the last few years with the war in Ukraine.”
“The goal is to raise funds to help more families in need,” she shared, adding that she works with an organization that helps refugees and anyone of Ukrainian descent with paperwork. “We help financially, help with the paperwork they need to legally work here and pay taxes and have kids in school, to register them, to find doctors so they can have their medical taken care of, their checkups and to register kids for the upcoming school year.”
Concession sales are a big part of the festival, including the potato, kraut and cheese pierogi, which Levko-Sendeha called the “hands down” favorite. “We have the best. They are homemade like your grandma used to make. We could never make enough.”
There also will be pork shish kebabs (her favorite), stuffed cabbage, smoked sausage, hot dogs, corn on the cob and other delights.
A combo platter with a “little bit of everything” – pierogi, stuffed cabbage, sausage, sauerkraut and bread – costs $20. New this year is chicken chebureki, similar to an empanada. “It’s the first year we’re going to introduce it. It’s as big as a 10-inch dinner plate folded over with meat and then it’s fried,” she explained.
Her husband said chebureki is “a treat that a lot of people my age and people who grew up in Ukraine eat because those would be sold from food trucks or carts – a quick treat to eat and it’s delicious.”
An event this big requires a lot of help. Levko-Sendeha estimated 30 to 40 people are needed to man shifts at stations during the festival. “After that they are able to enjoy and socialize with others,” Levko-Sendeha said.
This year’s festival includes over five hours of planned entertainment, followed by a live band that will sing. “It’s packed. It’s fun-filled,” she said. “There is a lot of food, things to do, see, performers. … .It takes a lot of work, a lot of people to do that, but it’s absolutely wonderful.” A petting zoo, volleyball, children’s games, jump house and other activities will take place.
She praised her volunteers, including a group of teenagers and young adults that belong to the Junior Ukrainian Orthodox League.” At any point of the festival, they are there helping. They are just great.”
Her husband is a pivotal worker as well. “He is there sunup to sundown. He is the one who does all of the necessary supply shopping,” she gushed. “You turn around and he is always there. He’s not the one who is going to give himself any credit, but he’s the best.”
Those who want to buy pierogi but can’t make it to the festival have options because the church hosts sales throughout the year, although it’s become harder because the pandemic affected volunteers.
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“After the pandemic, it went down. We also lost the pros – the older ladies who used to make the pierogi. They passed away. You have to have the skill to make them,” Sendeha said. “Before the pandemic it was every first Thursday of the month. We’re trying to get back to that.”
But there is hope, he said. “Now we’re getting the influx of immigrants. They are coming in the night. … We have a lot of newcomers who are willing to come out. It’s socializing for them. They can come and talk in their language.”
His wife hopes people attend the festival, not only to be entertained but to know more about her country. “The festival mission is to let people know Ukraine even though with the war these days it’s different,” she said. “But we are here, present, working hard to help others but at the same time want to have a good time and we’re a strong nation.”
Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.