KU center to bring festival celebrating Eastern European and Eurasian culture to downtown Lawrence

LAWRENCE — The Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES) at the University of Kansas will have its annual Spring Festival from 4 to 7 p.m. March 3. The festival brings Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian (REE) culture to Lawrence by providing music, dance, food and crafts from the region.

The free public event, which will take place at Liberty Hall in downtown Lawrence, shares the beauty of these cultures with the community, and CREES hopes to inspire more people to learn about this often misunderstood region.

The festival will have free food from the REE region, live performances, a photobooth, door prizes, a craft area and more.

Performances will include live music by Hrvatski Običaj, a 20-piece Croatian band featuring traditional stringed instruments. The group, which also performed at the 2023 festival, is dedicated to preserving Croatian national music.

There will also be a performance by Mavka, who will perform both Ukrainian folk dance and character dance. Mavka is a Ukrainian dance company united in love for Ukraine, dance and performing.

Last year, the Spring Festival had so many attendees that it became clear the event had outgrown its usual venue. Through sponsorship from local businesses, CREES is able to hold the Spring Festival at Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St., which makes the event easily accessible to many more people. Local sponsors include the KU Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging; Central Bank, Summit’s Steps Minerals, Kizer Cummings Jewelers and Pane e Vino Wine Bar & Academy.

For more information about CREES or the Spring Festival please visit the CREES department site or Facebook page.