College of Liberal Arts & SciencesUniversity of Florida

Viva Europe!

Do you want to learn how to play bocce? Learn to say "Go Gators" in Hungarian? Sample stuffed grape leaves with tzatziki sauce? Dance to a gypsy flamenco band from Spain? Hear the sweet sound of Uilleann pipes? Eat sausages until you burst?

Then come to Viva Europe! - a day-long celebration of the cultures of Europe - brought home to you in downtown Gainesville by the University of Florida Center for European Studies with other organizers and sponsors. The festival is on Saturday, April 7th from 11:00am-4:00pm at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza.

Use all your senses to see, hear, taste, and touch Europe at Viva Europe! A full day of music and dance performance is accompanied by food vendors, country display tables that may have goodies to taste and interesting objects to touch, contests, kid's activities, a marketplace, mini-language lessons, and more.

Stay for the day and first hear Mayor Lowe issue a proclamation, followed by Dr. John Duff on the bagpipes at 11:10am. Then enjoy the Hogan School of Dance doing Irish step dancing. Next, the English country dancers perform with their own band, Hoggetown Fancy. At 12:20pm, Amanda Solomon and her team demonstrate an ancient Slovak martial art, Krav Maga. The Flamenco Society of North Florida performs at 12:40pm followed by the Kanapaha Celtic trio. Make way for the An Truir Irish band at 1:30pm, then the Klezmer Katz Eastern European music. This takes us to the headliner band, Can Cun Rumba from Spain, at 2:35pm. We manage to squeeze in some lovely Portuguese fado during the band's break at 3:20pm. Can Cun Rumba will get your body moving.

Bring your chair and your appetite for European cultures and have a blast. Admission is free.

Groups from Germany, Greece, Turkey, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greenland, Croatia, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Spain, France and more will be represented.

For the kids, there will be a photo-op to pose with a wandering polka-playing accordionist, dress like a Parisian or a Turk, or play in a bungee trampoline, a rock wall, and a Gravitron. At the Alachua County library headquarters, just one block from Viva Europe, there will be a European Folktales Hour from 1:00pm-2:00pm.

There will be a Go Gators! Language contest and a pretzel-eating contest (register early for the pretzel contest as it is limited to the first 10 sign-ups prior to 1:00pm). Handcrafted and food items from Turkey, Poland, and the Czech Republic will be for sale in the marketplace.

A five-night Film Festival will fill the week leading up to Saturday's main event. Award-winning films from the Eurochannel Short Films Tour will have their North Florida premier at three of the branch libraries and at Sante Fe College, each night at 6:00pm.

Sponsors: UF International Center, Santa Fe College International Education, SF Student Life, The Institute of Turkish Studies, UF Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, UF Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, SF Humanities and Foreign Languages, Target Copy, Pepsi, Eurochannel, Alachua County Library District, and Papa John's Pizza.

For information about being a vendor, performer, volunteer, or sponsor, please email Gail Keeler or call (352) 294-7144.


Viva Europe!



Eurochannel UF International Center UF Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
UF Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies The Institute of Turkish Studies