A Message from the Festival Committee
Hello! I’d like to welcome you to the 38th Annual Birmingham Ethnic Festival. We are proud to be able to bring you two full days of enjoyment this year, for the first time. Whether you attend for the ethnic music, the ever-increasingly popular Waiters Race, to see old friends or to make new ones, we welcome you to Birmingham!
Due to a series of events that happened here nearly 40 years ago, members of the Birmingham neighborhood came together to protect the heart of our community and its best interests – a responsibility which continues today. The Birmingham Ethnic Festival is our way to celebrate the diversity of our neighborhood, to thank our friends and neighbors for their continued support.
As the first Birmingham Ethnic Festival book states: Our intention is to point to the spirit of the original ethnic settlers in Birmingham. Their cooperation and unity of purpose was the foundation for the building of this community. The motivating purpose of the early settlers was their faith in the American ideal of success being equally available to all who are willing to work toward that end. The Birmingham Ethnic Festival is an outgrowth of pride and enthusiasm of the Birmingham community, and its desire to share with greater Toledo a taste of the ethnic flavor which has so permeated the neighborhood. This pride has been a factor of great cohesiveness, sustaining the neighborhood through many threats to its very existence. The Birmingham neighborhood has shown a concerted and serious attention to the betterment of the community, to the projects of beautification, renovation and preservation. This festival seeks, through its activities, to provide a means whereby the aspirations of the Birmingham community may be realized as fully as possible in the future.
Due to our ability to open the Festival up as a full two-day event, some scheduling changes have occurred. The Waiters Race will open the Festival on Saturday this year, with a parade at 12:30PM and the race at 1PM. Don’t be late! The Recognition Ceremonies will remain at Noon on Sunday on the steps of Saint Stephen’s Church. We are glad to have the opportunity to thank all the people who made this year’s Festival possible.
Again, thank you for your support of the Birmingham neighborhood through your attendance at the Birmingham Festival. If this is your first time, there is a lot to see! If this is your 38th time, we can’t wait to show you what we have in store next year!
Köszönöm, and thank you,
Imre Bertalan
Birmingham Ethnic Festival Chair
