Annual Serb Fest returns to South Bend

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- The Annual SerbFest is back! The fest is a local tradition and fan-favorite in South Bend, and lets anyone come be a Serb for the day.

“It’s not only just the Serbian community, it’s the entire South Bend community,” says Kelly Rizzo, a church member and planner for SerbFest.

It’s the decades-long tradition that literally gives South Bend a taste of Serbian culture, the annual SerbFest.

“SerbFest is kind of our opportunity to invite the South Bend community to come out and enjoy some Serbian food and be a Serb for the day,” says an organizer of the fest, Christiaan Corthier.

Ethnic food, live music, cultural dancing, and a welcoming atmosphere are what make up the SerbFest. Most people come because it’s their one chance a year to enjoy Serbian food.

Instead of charging an admission fee to the festival, the church accepts donations that give back to the community.

“Every month, we feed two hundred people in the South Bend area, the homeless in the area, through Hope Ministries,” Corthier says. “So all the parking donations actually goes back to the community for the people that need it the most.”

With such a small Serbian community in South Bend, the SerbFest gives the close-knit group a chance to share their culture and traditions with the rest of the community, and welcome anyone into their family.

“I think it brings just a sense of community, I know that’s kind of cliché, but it really does,” Rizzo says.

“We all feel like a family,” says Corthier. “Whether it’s the first time you’ve ever come to our community or you’ve been here twenty times before. You’re a part of our community, you’re apart of our family.”

If you missed out on this year’s SerbFest, don’t worry, there will be one next year! Visit the SerbFest Facebook page to stay up to date on the latest events.

Link to go in ‘SerbFest Facebook page’ : Serb Fest | Facebook