ASTORIA – Taking place on Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th January is the 40th annual celebration of Balkan cultures – Zlatne Uste Golden Festival.
Since 1986, this popular Festival welcomes New Yorkers and visitors from across the country to come together and dance, sing, eat, and celebrate different cultures in Astoria.
Held at The Marquee Astoria, at 25-22 Astoria Boulevard, the Festival sees more than 2,000 attendees annually, who come together to share a mutual love for food and festivities.
The Golden Festival Program Director and Zlatne Uste band leader, Michael Ginsburg, reflected on the “wonderful” annual event that Golden Festival has become, highlighting how despite what’s going on in the world, “thousands of people come together in the middle of winter, sharing love for music and dance and respect for a remarkable range of cultures,” Ginsburg said.
“Every year we walk away energized by the joy the festival inspires, and today it feels more important than ever.”
This annual two-day Festival features more than 50 bands who will take the stage and perform, and more than 15 exhibitors, who can be found selling products from around the world at the Charshiya Balkan Marketplace – a carefully-curated space for artisans to sell unique, handmade products inspired by and imported from different countries and cultures across the world.
Called Charshiya, after the word (Çarşı), which refers to the old market district of Ottoman-era towns, this Marketplace also showcases Greek exhibitors, providing a taste of Greece amongst all the other Balkan countries proudly in attendance.
One of the exhibitors includes Christine Curtis, who runs her own business titled ‘My Komboloi’ and sells handmade komboloi’s made from natural materials and semi-precious stones. The other includes Seven Senses Organic Greek Herbal Teas, owned by William Karis and Patricia Graells, who sell organic Greek herbal tea.
Christine Curtis’ first attended Golden Fest in 2024, and in a comment to TNH, she revealed how “it was such a fantastic event that I could not wait to be a part of it again.”
“One of the reasons I really enjoy this event is the cross assimilation of the Balkan/Ottoman cultures that occurs – from the music to the food, dancing – but also the market,” Curtis told TNH.
“Everyone can thoughtfully engage with one another and share aspects of their memories of specific items and music, while also taking into consideration that the entire region really does intersect.”
As someone passionate about komboloi-making, Curtis explained how she loved attending Golden Fest and discussing komboloi with people, “because we all share our stories of how we became aware of them, or, in some cases, what komboloi are called in other regions, and how they use them in different ways.”
“It truly is an open exchange of ideas and cultures, even though they are very close geographically, that can have some interesting differences.”
Golden Fest will also showcase Greek flavors by serving a variety of Greek wines and spirits from Stellar Importing Company, as well as foods from The Diamandis Family (‘The Greek Store’), Kontos, and Mediterranean Foods, who will all contribute to the Festival’s ‘international mezze buffet’.
According to a media release provided from Golden Fest, the annual event is described as “one of the country’s most wide-ranging and inclusive world music festivals.”
“Each year features a diverse line-up of more than 50 bands and vocal groups spanning genres and traditions, including Klezmer, Middle Eastern, Ukrainian, Scandinavian, and more,” the release read.
As part of the Festival’s entertainment, the Friday night will feature pontic music and dance with Dimitris Stefanidis on kemence and Jerry Kisslinger on daouli, and the Kavala Brass Band, who will be playing music from Northern Greece.
Saturday’s lineup will consist of music by Ta Pedia Tis Polis, Rembetiko Without Borders, Rebetika music, music from Lesvos and Asia Minor led by Dean Lampros, music by Scott Wilson and Efendi, music by Chris Tiktapanides and Dimitris playing Pontic music, as well as a performance by Pontic Firebird.
Tommy Kavounidis, the bouzouki player of Ta Pedia Tis Polis, who is also involved in Rembetiko Without Borders, who has over 15 years of professional performing experience revealed how he felt to perform at Golden Fest for a second year.
“I’m very excited. Golden Fest is not like a typical Greek Festival,” Kavounidis told TNH.
“It’s not a performance in the usual setting either, where we play for four-to-six hours straight, we have a very time-limited 30-minute set, and that really pushes us to be intentional with our song choices and execution.”
When asked about what it meant for Kavounidis to showcase Greek culture through music at the diverse and multicultural festival, he said “it means a lot to me.”
“Golden Fest brings together musicians and artists from many backgrounds, and that creates a real cultural exchange. It challenges us creatively and reminds us that traditional music continues to live, grow, and connect with people across cultures,” he expressed.
“I also think it’s important that if we don’t continue to perform or represent traditional group music, then who will? The music carries history and there’s a lot of stories that deserve to be heard, and events like Golden Fest give us the space to keep that tradition alive so that it doesn’t get lost or forgotten.”
Ta Pedia Tis Polis focuses on a broad range of Greek music traditions, and is made up of Tommy Kavounidis, on bouzouki, laouto and guitar, Dimitris Behrakis and Eleni Moniodi on vocals, George Vardaros on violin, guitar and vocals, David Chorowski, on percussion and oud, Erikos Vlesmas on bass, Ilya Shneyveys on accordion, and Nikitas Tampakis, (who will not be performing at this year’s festival).
Golden Fest takes place on Friday, January 16, from 7 PM to 12:30 AM, to Saturday, January 17, from 5:30 PM to 2 AM. To purchase tickets, see the program and find out more, visit www.goldenfest.org.
