PHILADELPHIA, July 7, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Celebrate the heritage and history of the former Soviet Union's republics during the "Russian Mosaic" Festival at Penn's Landing. For the third year, the Russian speaking community of Philadelphia will join together to rejoice in the rich traditions of their culture. This FREE festival will take place at the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing, on Columbus Boulevard at Chestnut Street on Sunday August 7, 2005, from Noon - 7:00 p.m. Independence Blue Cross is the presenting sponsor of the 2005 Summer Season at Penn's Landing.
The "Russian Mosaic" festival has an exciting day planned packed with music, dance and entertainment. This year's seven hours long concert program is set to showcase community's exciting and original folk, classical and ballroom dancing performers. Highlighting the concert:
-- New York performance group "Barynia" will perform a one-hour
program of music, singing and dancing, www.barynia.com
-- "International Ballet Theater" celebrating their sixtieth
anniversary, and directed by Maestro Vladimir Shoumeikin, will
present the program "Mosaic of Russian Dance". Shoumeikin's
student, Karina Schevchenko recently became a winner of the famous
ballet competition in Bolshoi Theater, Moscow.
-- Philadelphia Dance Sport Academy, Philadelphia's newest ballroom
dancing school, created by the longtime associate of famous Sandy
Fortuna, Ilya Reznik will prove once again why children of
Russian-speaking immigrants became leaders in American ballroom
dancing.
Young performers from the Ballet School of Olga Kresina and Dance School of Julia Yaremchuk and child performers from Cultural Center of Children's Creativity "Rising Stars" will dance and perform. Returning from last year will be the popular "Klezmer Band of Mark Sobol."
In addition to the music and dancing, Russian, Jewish, Georgian, Moldavian and Middle Asian cuisine will be available. Popular Philadelphia restaurants "Melodia" and "Paradise" will participate as Food vendors selling authentic Russian and Georgian dishes. "Lylia's Continental Cuisine" from Cherry Hill, specializing in Moldavian cuisine will also participate in the festival. There will be many artisans presenting traditional Russian crafts including woodcarvings, paintings, jewelry, needlework and photography. Several local businesses will present their achievements.
Kabala Learning Group, Lubavitch Center for Russian Jewry, Russian Christian Mission and other organizations will represent different aspects of the rich and diverse spiritual life of the community.
This year, the Russian Community will celebrate 60 years of the Victory in the Second World War and honor its veterans represented by Alliance of the Veterans of War and Labor.
This free event, presented by PECO Energy and organized by the many local non-profit organizations, includes: Russian-Americans Chamber of Commerce, The Creative Collective Arts Center, "Big Heart, Inc." and Mid-Atlantic - Russia Business Council. This annual event became an important event for the organizers in order to publicize the importance of their community in the Philadelphia region. For more information on the Festival, please visit www.russianmosaic.org or www.business.russianmosaic.org
Supporting the region's diversity has been a longstanding goal for PECO, who has sponsored the multicultural festivals at Penn's Landing for the past ten years. "All of us at PECO are thrilled to return again to the waterfront to support the multicultural festivals," said PECO president Denis O'Brien. "Penn's Landing is a Philadelphia summertime tradition and the PECO Energy Multicultural Series is a fun way for us to celebrate the wide range of diversity represented in our service territory."
PECO Energy is proud to be Philadelphia's hometown energy company and one of the region's most prominent civic supporters. PECO is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and celebrating diversity inside and outside the Company.
Based in Philadelphia, PECO Energy is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC). PECO serves 1.5 million electric and 460,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 2004, the company delivered 37.5 million megawatt hours (mWh) of electricity and 87.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas to residential, business and institutional customers. PECO's energy delivery services generated $4.49 billion in revenue for Exelon. Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region's most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations.
Independence Blue Cross is the presenting sponsor of the 2005 Summer Season at Penn's Landing. Penn's Landing is Philadelphia's Waterfront district, running along Columbus Boulevard from Washington Avenue to Spring Garden Street. The main site for the festivals, concerts, and events at Penn's Landing is the Great Plaza, located along the Delaware River on Columbus Boulevard at Chestnut Street. For more information on event locations and event details, please call (215) 922-2FUN or visit www.pennslandingcorp.com. The Penn's Landing website is a virtual resource for the waterfront which can help plan a visit to easily park, play and stay all day at Penn's Landing.
The Penn's Landing Corporation logo is available at: http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=349