The Zlatne Uste Golden Festival 2017 - New York City Article

Even if you don’t think Balkan band music is your cup of borscht, this annual extravaganza will have you dancing on tables and shouting “opa!” within minutes of your arrival. This is the world’s ultimate party music, and it’s seductive charms are impossible to resist, especially with no less than 50 bands - and dozens of attendant artisans dancers, singers, craftsmen, chefs on hand. This annual festival, hosted by the New York-based 12-piece brass band Zlatne Uste (which means “Golden Lips”) is the superbowl of Balkan debauchery and good clean fun. There’s so much music - you’ll hear everything from Mozart to Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” so much revelry, so much vodka, so many joyful and attractive people from all over the world, that the major thing you have to worry about is waking up a few days later and finding that you’ve gone and gotten married to a belly dancer named Victoria from Sofia, or maybe Sophia from Victoria.