New Orleans festival brings together Croatian community

Around 3,000 Croats and their descendants gathered in the U.S. city of New Orleans for Croatian Fest, a festival of Croatian culture, music, and cuisine, event organizers told Hina.

The Croatian-American Society in Louisiana, a southern U.S. state, has been organizing the festival since 2019 with the aim of preserving Croatian identity, CE Report quotes HINA.

“It serves to preserve our heritage and give the community an opportunity to experience Croatian tradition firsthand,” said Ivona Glavinić, a member of the Croatian-American Society who helped organize the event.

In the suburb of Belle Chasse, on the banks of the Mississippi River, stands the “Croatian House,” built in 2023, where the Croatian community gathers.

From March 27 to 29, performers included Klapa Uvale from San Jose, California, the Rileybirds group from Louisiana, women’s and children’s folklore ensembles of the Croatian-American Society, and singer Krste Jerković from the island of Hvar.

Guests were served traditional Croatian dishes such as ćevapi, lamb, squid, and octopus salad, along with wine and beer. Entertainment games and workshops were organized for children.

“It was great,” said 58-year-old Josip Vuković from Canada.

He traveled with two friends to the city of Orlando for matches of the Croatian national football team against Colombia and Brazil, and used the time between games to visit New Orleans, 1,020 kilometers away.

“We wanted to attend Croatian Fest,” Vuković explained. “We met many Croats from the diaspora, enjoyed the atmosphere, and had a great time.”

Croats from other U.S. cities also traveled to the festival.

Glavinić, a mother of three, has been part of the leadership of the Croatian-American Society for the past four years. Funds raised at the festival will be used to maintain the “Croatian House” and repay the loan taken for its construction.

“It was a two-day, lively celebration of Croatian culture,” she said. “Visitors truly enjoyed it.”

The Croatian-American Society, which had to cancel the festival in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, will continue organizing the gathering in the coming years.

Between 5,000 and 6,000 Croats live in Louisiana, according to local community data. They are part of around 1.2 million people of Croatian origin in the United States.