April 14, 11am-4pm, 2013:

EDT at the Mankato International Festival

May 2-3, 2013:

Festival of Nations

More information here.

Mila Vocal Ensemble

Orkestar Bez Ime

SG Edelweiss St Paul

Natalie Nowytski

Ukrainian Village Band

Szaszka

Tapestry Folk Dance Center

Katha Dance Theatre

Dolina Polish Folk Dancers

Wild Goose Chase Cloggers

DykunTube

Hutsul Dance Project

BLACK SEA TRIVIA!

12. Strabo's Geography reports that in antiquity, the Black Sea was often just called "the Sea" (ho pontos). For the most part, Greco-Roman tradition refers to the Black Sea as the 'Hospitable Sea', Euxeinos Pontos.

11. The warm subtropical Black Sea coast of Russia is the site for a number of popular sea resorts, like Sochi, the follow-up host of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The mountains of the Northern Caucasus contain popular ski resorts, including Dombay.

10. Originally a land-locked fresh water lake, the Black Sea was flooded with salt water from the Mediterranean Sea during the Holocene era. The influx of salt water essentially smothered the fresh water below it because a lack of internal motion and mixing meant that no fresh oxygen reached the deep waters.

9. The Black Sea Cossack Host also known as Chernomoriya, was a Cossack host of the Russian Empire created in 1787 in the southern Ukraine from former Zaporozhian Cossacks. In the 1790s, the host was re-settled to the Kuban River. It comprised the Caucasus Fortified Defense Line from the inlet of the Kuban River to the inlet of the Bolshaya Laba River.

8. Ancient trade routes in the region are currently being extensively studied by scientists, as the Black Sea was sailed by Hittites, Carians, Thracians, Greeks, Persians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Romans, Byzantines, Goths, Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Slavs, Varangians, Crusaders, Venetians, Genoese, Lithuanians, Georgians, Poles, Tatars, Ottomans, and Russians.

7. Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of Georgia is Tbilisi. Ethnic Georgians call themselves Kartvelebi, their land Sakartvelo (meaning "a land of Kartvelians"), and their language Kartuli.

6. The 1936 Montreux Convention provides for a free passage of civilian ships between the international waters of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. However, a single country (Turkey) has a complete control over the straits connecting the two seas.

5. The Danube flows into the Black Sea within Romania's territory forming the Danube Delta, the second largest and best preserved delta in Europe, and also a biosphere reserve and a biodiversity World Heritage Site.

4. The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus Strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the Strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean. These waters separate Eastern Europe and western Asia. The Black Sea is connected to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch.

3. Romania is a country located at the intersection of Central and Southeastern Europe, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south.

2. Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south and the Black Sea to the east.

1. At 17,075,400 square kilometers (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia has an extensive coastline of over 37,000 km (22,991 mi) along the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, as well as along the Baltic Sea, Sea of Azov, Black Sea and Caspian Sea.

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