Niagara’s Ukrainian festival becomes a beacon of resilience amid war

As Russia launched another wave of missile and drone attacks across Ukraine, members of Niagara’s Ukrainian community came together today for a festival that has taken on a much deeper meaning over the past four years.

For one weekend, a corner of Niagara Falls becomes a little piece of Ukraine through the Niagara Ukrainian Family Festival.

But more than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, this festival has become about more than celebrating heritage. It’s also about standing together while many continue to worry about the people they love back home.

Volodymyr Paslavskyi’s brother was forced to leave their home and has since relocated with his family to western Ukraine.

“He left his house in Kharkiv — that part of the city is now unliveable,” Paslavskyi said.

While the festival continues here, many are also following the latest developments from Ukraine.

“The longer the war continues, the harder it will be,” Paslavskyi said. “They need to be ready for that. This is not a short run, thus they need to prepare for the long run.”

Overnight, Russia launched another wave of missile and drone attacks across Ukraine, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more. Ukrainian officials say cities including Kyiv, Sumy, Odesa and Kharkiv were targeted, as emergency crews searched through the rubble.

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For many at the festival, those aren’t just headlines. They’re a reason to pick up the phone and make sure loved ones are safe.

Iryna Kolotylo knows that feeling all too well. Her sister still lives in Kyiv.

“Actually, our area was attacked,” Kolotylo said. “The apartment building just in front was ruined from the second to the fifth floor — completely destroyed. And it’s like the first time our area is attacked. So every time I’m checking in with my sister if she’s okay, if she’s alive. If she’s answering, that’s good.”

Even so, the festival remains a place of resilience, a place to keep Ukrainian culture alive and pass those traditions on to the next generation.

“My baba’s family still in Ukraine are really like warriors,” said Hannah Baran, a second-generation Ukrainian. “They’re able to persevere through anything. They’re able to live the lives that we are here, but in Ukraine, while the war is going on and while their lives are being threatened every day.”

For organizers, that sense of unity has never been more important.

“Ukrainians try to stay together,” said Iryna Lohazyak, festival organizer. “It doesn’t matter where we stay — we stay together. It’s very important. It’s a message for the whole world.”

The Niagara Ukrainian Family Festival continues Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Firemen’s Park in Niagara Falls.

And attendees here say, until peace returns, the festival will remain more than a celebration of heritage. It will be a reminder that even thousands of kilometres from home, Ukraine is never far from their hearts.

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