Wigilia (pronounced: “vyg-ILY-uh”) – Christmas Eve is huge with Polish families…Wigilia is one of my favorite family events…in the heart of Buffalo’s historic Polonia, the Broadway Market is extending this tradition to its WNY family…gotta love that…this is what makes Buffalo such a cool place…our rich cultural history…something we need to celebrate…it is who we are and something we should never forget.
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PRESS RELEASE FROM THE MARKET:
Regardless of our cultural heritage or religious beliefs, life-long memories are made from the foods we share at our dinner tables. This is especially true during the holidays, when our cooking offers more than the nourishment of a meal, but also a celebration, the comfort of our traditions, and a tangible connection to generations of our loved ones. The Broadway Market will be honoring these customs and showcasing the old-world quality of Buffalo’s best loved foods with a cooking demonstration and tasting that will highlight the traditional Polish meal (Wigilia) served on Christmas Eve.
Based on the popularity of last year’s Wigilia, this event is being offered on both Saturday, December 8 and Saturday December 15 at 1:00PM. This special Savor the Flavor presentation is expected to sell out quickly. For further information or to make a reservation, call Your Buffalo Tours at716/839-5150 or order tickets online at www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/23420.
The tasting will be presented by Taste of Home Magazine’s Western NewYork Field Editor and Slow Food Buffalo member Sandy Starks. Prepaid reservations are required and the price of $11 per person includes samples of a selection of Wigilia foods, including mushroom soup, pierogi, seafood and the traditional Christmas wafers (oplatek). Fr. Anzelm Chalupka, Pastor of Corpus Christi Church, will join Ms. Starks in explaining the Christmas Eve meal and will bless the Christmas wafers.
BACKGROUND
Wigilia (pronounced: “vyg-ILY-uh”), comes from the Latin word vigilare, “to watch”, and means literally “Eve.” This meatless meal is also known as “the vigil,” as Catholics await the birth of Christ.
Whether you would like to reconnect with your heritage, or want to learn about a custom that is not part of your family’s tradition, the Broadway Market has been an important part of holiday meals for more than 100 years in our community. The Wigilia cooking demonstration is part of an ongoing campaign for Western New Yorkers to Come Home to the Market and to shop at this historic marketplace year-round.
Do you really expect Buffalo’s suburban population to travel to the economically abandoned east side to wax nostalgia about days gone by. Give it up. If there was a market on Broadway, you wouldnt be begging for customers, rather fighting for them from Wegmans. I just cant wait to see what kind of federal state and city welfare you might be begging for next.
People who still care about treasured traditions don’t expect ANYthing from suburbanites like that. They’re the reason the market has suffered, because they’re too caught up in themselves to care about anything beyond their own front lawn. A sincere THANK YOU to the folks at the market who keep the richness of the past alive!