Croatian Folk Assembly 'Domagoj'

Among the other activities that were created with the parish, one stands out in particular. It's folklore. The kolo krupa activity brings together a large number of young people in this Croatian settlement. The Croatian Kolo Group was founded in 1973. The initiative to establish the kolo group came from the president of the Croatian Catholic Center at the time, Zvonk Zvonković and Marko Tomljenović. Like every beginning, this one was also difficult. Everything took place around the Croatian Catholic Center where the children gathered and had their exercises.

The Kolo group had its first performance at the Croatian evening in the Polish Hall on November 23, 1973. In 1974, on June 26, in the hall of the Croatian Catholic Center

it was an extremely beautiful ceremony. On that day, there was a party and the blessing of the flag around the group. The then Minister of Culture was present at that ceremony

and a great friend of Croats, Horst Shmid. The flag was blessed by the special envoy of the local bishop Msgr. Ed Donahue.

With the arrival of a permanent priest in 1977, many activities in the city, as well as the Kolo group itself, revived a little. And so with the busyness and commitment of the then parish priest Fr. Jerko Ćaleta. On May 20 and 21, 1978, the first Croatian Folklore Festival was held in the western part of Canada. Groups from Winnipeg, Regina, Lethbridge, Calgary and the host from Edmonton participated in the festival, as well as a musical meeting of the Gašparić family from Regina. Holy Mass was held in the Church of the Heart of Jesus, after which a parade was held through the streets of the city. The concert took place at Victoria Composite School, at 2:00 in the afternoon. At that time, no group had live music. These were the modest but significant beginnings of the great momentum of Croatian folklore in western Canada. In the Edmonton Journal, on May 24 of that year, among other things, one could read: Music from the homeland.

Free Croatia came to life again, if only in song. On the occasion of that festival, the words of Father Fr. Petar Čapkun, from a letter written by Fr. Jerka, are significant: "I congratulate the happy idea of the symposium of the Croatian folklore festival in Edmonton. It is a meeting of our young people in the west of Canada, from Winnipeg to Vancouver. Let this festival be an incentive to others in other Croatian settlements in Canada, where our youth will meet, get to know each other, learn about the international spirit, culture and be strengthened in every way. '

This has really been happening for years!

The festival came to Edmonton again after six years in 1984, and again in 1990. So Edmonton has already organized three festivals of Croatian folklore, and in addition to laying the foundation, it also built a wonderful building for Croatian festivals. Kolo group Edmonton has participated in all festivals since the beginning. They had many performances at Klodinke Days, Heritage Festivals, The Worlds student games 1984...

They are members of the Edmonton Folk Arts Council. The Kolo group is under the patronage of the Croatian parish of Mala Gospa. The pastor, together with the committee and teachers of the kolo group and parents, takes care of the kolo group. We could write about this at length, but neither time nor space allows us. However, it is necessary to mention the teachers who diligently and lovingly practiced the circle group. Until now, the teachers have been: Ananaria Tomljenović, Slavko Bunjevac, Kruno and Djurdja Maijanović, Andjela and Dijana Janković, Mary Balen, Boris Zvonković, Marija Pošta, Denis Kvesić, Drina Ćulo, Mary Čulo, Mary Ann Livojević, Nives Lasić, Gloria Šarić, Dijana Čulo, Maca Ćurič, Janie Beljan, Christina Vuković. We owe them all a debt of gratitude, not to mention the love and sacrifice of the parents who brought and continue to bring their children, to dance our Croatian car and spread the love for Our Lady. May the Lord bless all those who lovingly and joyfully worked and are now working to spread the Croatian name, culture and folklore.

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