Submitted photo In addition to the acts performing on the main stage for Simply Slavic, strolling musicians will perform on the grounds of the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre on Saturday, including Bob Buzecan, left, and Brian Brazier from the Chardon Polka Band.

Simply Slavic turns 15 — and three — this year.

It’s the 15th anniversary for the festival created to celebrate the traditions of the European countries and their immigrants that make up Slavic culture.

It’s also the first time the festival has expanded to three days, running this year on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, its third year at that site.

Aundrea Cika Heschmeyer, who’s been a driving force behind the event since its inception, isn’t surprised by its growth. Her goal always has been to make Simply Slavic a destination event comparable to the Dublin Irish Festival in greater Columbus, Cleveland Oktoberfest and Oktoberfest Zinzinnati.

She remembered going to the different ethnic churches in the Mahoning Valley with Ken Shirilla and working to convince them that Simply Slavic wouldn’t be a threat to their festivals.

“This isn’t instead of your festival, this is in addition to your festival, and (an opportunity to) be part of something bigger,” Heschmeyer said. “All of us are over 50, so what’s going to happen without us? We’ve got to prepare something together that’ll be here after us.”

The fact that some of the churches they went to 15, 16 years ago no longer exist proved the need for Simply Slavic to continue those traditions.

To continue growing, the festival needed to expand to three days to lure more out-of-town visitors. In some ways, expanding the festival didn’t make more work. Set up and tear down essentially is the same, whether an event lasts for one day or a week. In other ways, it did.

“People now are making a weekend of it, so we’re changing the programming around, so that there’s different things on different days, making it worth sticking around,” she said.

New events include a polka Mass on Sunday as well as a Mascot Day as the festival introduces two new costumed characters to join festival fixtures such as Rodina and Stan the Pierogi. Baba Yaga, a mysterious old woman with magical powers, is a famous character from Slavic folklore. Baba Roga is a mischievous “boogeywoman” familiar to those in the Balkan and Slavic regions.

However, new events and new activities require additional people to make them happen. Heschmeyer filled some of those roles within her own family. One of the biggest additions for 2026 is a children’s area set up in the amphitheater’s VIP section, and the chair of that portion of the festival is her daughter, Sophie Heschmeyer.

“Sophie said, ‘I basically grew up in a festival, and you think it’s fun, but it’s really not all that for kids without some planned activities,'” Heschmeyer said. “It really works out well, because if you are familiar with the amp, it (the VIP area) is gated off, so in a sense it’s a big playpen area where the kids can go. They can kick a soccer ball in honor of the World Cup, they can bounce in a bounce house, and there’s a bar nearby for mom and dad, so everybody’s happy.”

Events that celebrate ethnic traditions have been a staple of the festival since its inception and continue to be the primary focus, but organizers also have broadened their offerings.

Last year the Friday night headliner was popular local classic rock act The Houseband. This year’s Friday night band is No Funk No Justice. The Chardon Polka Band, which takes a nontraditional approach to ethnic music and has been a festival favorite for years, is the Saturday headliner.

“It’s a nice change,” Heschmeyer said. “Traditionally, Friday was Chardon’s spot, and Chardon kind of bridges the two (musical) worlds. We wanted to give Chardon a chance to be on the big stage on a Saturday night (last year), and it worked out well. This is a way to get the people who even Chardon isn’t enough (of a mainstream act).This gives them a chance to enjoy the food, the atmosphere, the environment and the music.

And the festival usually finds a way to weave Slavic culture into the nontraditional elements. Heschmeyer teased that there will be a “special guest” with No Funk No Justice that might be adding some accordion to the funk. In the children’s area, the bounce house castle area will include some information about castles in Slavic countries, and a scavenger hunt will encourage children to explore the festival grounds with their families and maybe learn something along the way.

Things to see and do are only part of the attraction. What’s on the menu is a big draw for many festivalgoers, and Simply Slavic features offerings that folks won’t find at other fairs. Many of the vendors specialize in delicacies from the cultures the festival represents, and some of the ones that don’t will have special offerings inspired by those regions.

“We went out of our way to try to expand the palate a little bit with the food,” Heschmeyer said. “We went out of our way to (represent) all of the Slavs.”

If you go …

WHAT: Simply Slavic,

WHEN: 4:45 to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to midnight Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, 201 S. Phelps St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Admission is $5 with children ages 12 and younger admitted free. For more information, go to simplyslavic.org

ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE

Friday

• 5 p.m. — Od Srca Adult Tamburitzans (Croatian)

• 5:45 p.m. — Opening Ceremony

• 6:30 p.m. — Sycamore Folk Dancers (Polish/Slovak)

• 7 p.m. — Mon Valley Push (Polka)

• 9:15 p.m. — No Funk No Justice (Disco, Funk, Rock, Pop)

Saturday

• 12:15 p.m. — Veseljaci (Croatian Tamburitza)

• 1 p.m. — Opening Ceremony

• 1:40 p.m. — Living Traditions Folk Ensemble (Polish/Rusyn)

• 2:35 p.m. — Radost

• 3:30 p.m. — Selo Croatian Ensemble (Croatian)

• 4:30 p.m. — ZAPS (Ukrainian)

• 6 p.m. — Harmonia (Gypsy)

• 8:30 p.m.– The Chardon Polka Band (Polka)

• 10:30 p.m. — Vatra Lighting Ceremony, followed by dance featuring Harmonia, Chardon Polka Band & Friends

Sunday

• 11 a.m. — Catholic Mass officiated by the Rev. Joseph Rudjak with music by Rex Taneri Orchestra (Slovenian)

• Noon — Welcome Ceremony, Ecumenical Prayer and Baking Contest Winner Announcement

• 1 p.m. — Mascot Showcase

• 1:30 p.m. — Da Polka Bums (Polka)

• 3:30 p.m. — T.O. Nocne Sove

• 4 p.m. — Mikey Dee (Tamburitza / Southern Slav Polka)

6 p.m. — Closing Remarks