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Serb Fest - Part 1


On a crisp Fall Sunday in Clearwater,  a little bored and feeling the need to experience something, I drove over to St. George's Serbian Orthodox church.  Having lived a while a few blocks away at Bedlam I was aware of a festival they had every year.  Once there it was as different as I had hoped.   



This is the St. George Serbian Orthodox church.  It may look old but was actually built in 2005.  



I don't know a thing about Serbian dance but this was fairly obvious.  A guy flirts with a girl then extends to her a red scarf or rope and lasso's her to him.  Apparently unto marriage.  It is a universal tale of happiness or woe, depending on your general outlook.  





Most of the dances I saw were basically the same.  Same tempo, same one-guy several-girls and more hopping than dance, in my estimation.  Of course, I'm an old box step guy so any more nuanced moves are lost on me. 






Cute kids mimicking what is happening up on the stage.  



Next group waiting on the sidelines for their performance.




These guys were also cooling their heels, waiting for their turn in the spotlight.






There were brisk sales at the drink tent.  I'll brush up on my Serb so I can order a beer in the Mother tongue.  




The afternoon sun beat down on the audience.  While I was there the sun was very much in the wrong place in order to watch the show.  Wonder why they didn't move the stage around to avoid this?



A couple kids exchanging secrets.  




A rather haunting tune from a fine singer.  If this song wasn't about lost love then there is no justice in the Serbian songbook.





A panel in the door going into the church.  In the next few days I'll post the second part of my visit to a Serbian Festival and the focus will be inside the church.  It's pretty interesting, so stay tuned.  

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