10th annual Little Poland Festival takes place in New Britain

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (WFSB) - Hundreds of people are enjoying New Britain’s Little Poland Festival.

People are enjoying the music, checking out dozens of vendors, and of course, trying out the tasty food.

You can find everything from pierogis to potato pancakes to kielbasa!

This festival is a big deal for the Polish community.

People have traveled from all over the state to come together today to celebrate their heritage.

“At the end of the day, you need to have the community where people want to show up, where people feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves and it’s nice to kind of share culture and heritage, run into friends, families,” said Mark Krosky, Norwalk.

“I feel like this fair really focuses on the immediate family coming into the festival and maybe proudly showing their heritage off or just being entertained with everything that’s here to enjoy,” added Becky Maurer, Vendor.

This year’s celebration has a deeper meaning to one local artist who is thinking of those overseas.

Poland has taken in more than one million Ukrainian refugees to help its neighbor to the east.

She drew a portrait of a Ukrainian teacher, turned soldier during Russia’s invasion, and is donating some of the money she makes to help Ukraine.

“The folks from Eastern Europe all feel like family, and so after World War II, there’s a lot of empathy and sympathy left in the Polish people to just make space to take care of Ukrainian folk, so you know, brothers and sisters,” said Alex Novak, Vendor.

The festival runs until seven o’clock tonight.

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