What started as a last-minute replacement is now the new home for the Simply Slavic festival.

Festival organizers reached an agreement with JAC Management Group to use the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre for the next five years for the annual event.

In the press release announcing the deal, John Slanina, president of the Simply Slavic board of directors said, “This partnership marks a major milestone for Simply Slavic. We are thrilled to continue growing in a space that offers a premier festival experience for our guests while remaining rooted in downtown Youngstown, where our city’s Slavic communities have long flourished.”

Last year organizers were forced to find an alternative location with less than three weeks’ notice when the Realty Tower explosion closed a portion of East Federal Street that was used by the festival.

Aundrea Cika Heschmeyer, vice president of the board and cofounder of the festival, said they initially considered Wean Park, but putting up fencing around the park was impractical.

However, they needed to control visitor flow because the festival charges admission and state law requires fencing for the beer garden, so they opted for the amphitheater.

Initially Heschmeyer was worried about the amount of walking the new layout would entail, especially for some of the older residents who annually attend and volunteer at the event. It worked far better than she anticipated.

“They said they felt like they were at Epcot (Center in Orlando),” she said. “They’re over here it’s a bar and it’s lively, and then they’re over here and it’s reflective and it’s heritage. Every time that people kept making the loop, they said they would pause and eat over here and enjoy this, and then they would get up again and keep going. They would do this round robin.

“Initially, we’re like, ‘Oh my God, everything is too far away from itself.’ But instead that big green open space was absorbed by people — ‘I’m just going to sit here and enjoy a little bit.'”

Heschmeyer also was worried that the heritage tent might get ignored but, if anything, the traffic flow seemed to draw more visitors to that element of the event, which was created to celebrate all Slavic cultures.

Last year’s event drew more than 5,000 people over two days and provided plenty of room for vendors selling authentic Slavic foods and beverages, live entertainment, cultural ceremonies and other attractions.

Jordan Ryan, vice president of JAC and executive director of the amphitheater, also was happy with how well the concert venue adapted to a festival event.

“The lawn is not really made to host events like that, because it’s all sloped,” Ryan said. “It has an irrigation system underneath it, so you can’t stake tents down on it or anything. Plus it’s at an angle anyway, so it’s not really safe to put tents there. We went into this thing not knowing how this event was going to turn out, but I think it’s a testament to (the fact that) when two groups of people get together and have the intention to make something successful, that really anything’s possible.”

After last year’s event, organizers approached JAC about a more permanent relationship.

“They came back to us and said, ‘Thank you for everything you guys did. We want to look at this as a long-term solution for us,'” Ryan said. “We worked out a long-term agreement, and proudly the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre is going to be the home of the Simply Slavic festival for the next five years.”

Organizers are already planning the improvements that can be made for the 2025 edition, which will take place from 5 to 11 p.m. June 13 and noon to midnight June 14.

“I have been trying for several years to create the beer garden,” Heschmeyer said. “Because of how the bar is structured there, it allowed it to become the beer garden we’ve been trying to do. Already Aspasia (Lyras-Bernacki of Penguin City Brewing) and I are talking about how can we lean in (and improve it)? All those European beer gardens, we had the beginning of that effect. We’re going to build on that this year.”