Macedonian Masquerade!
We went to the 11th Annual Macedonian Old-New Year's Masquerade Celebration, Vasilica, at the Embassy of the Republic of Macedonia. We snapped the sponsors, United Macedonian Diaspora co-founder and president Metodija Koloski and his colleagues Zhikica Pagovski and Gordana Mirkoska, flanked by project controls manager Valentina Dimkovic and the Macedonian Embassy's Srgjan Hadji-Nikolov.
Vasilica is a centuries-old Macedonian holiday that commemorates both the feast day of St. Basil the Great and New Year’s Day according to the Julian calendar. For the past 1,400 years, people have worn festive costumes and masks and danced. Here, Nadia Onoprienko and her daughter World Wildlife Fund's Anna Onoprienko flank TR's Ali Turcaman.
Guests enjoyed a full Macedonian traditional dinner, Macedonian wine, and local brandy called rakija. Here, La Roche's Hristina Manovska, Aleksej Demjanski and Natasha Garrett.
Proceeds from the celebration benefited The United Macedonian Diaspora's scholarship and internship programs for promising students. Here, Meto Koloski (in mask) leads guests in the traditional Macedonian oro dance.
