CroatiaFest 2025 Performance
Seatte Junior Tamburitzans will be performing at CroatiaFest on Sunday October 5th, taking the main stage around 12:45pm.
Please come join us in celebrating our Croatian culture, enjoy and support our SJTs, as well as checking out CroatiaFest.
CroatiaFest 2024 Pictures (Instragram)
Seattle Center Festál presents CroatiaFest in partnership with CroatiaFest. The festival presents Croatian culture through music and dance performances by the finest Croatian musicians, singers and dance ensembles from the Pacific Northwest, Canada and beyond. Museum quality exhibits tell the story of the Croatian American immigrant experience through historical photos, artifacts, traditional costumes and folk instruments. Attendees can enjoy cooking demonstrations of traditional foods by Croatian chefs. The office of the Croatian Consulate assists with passports, visas and official government documents.
CroatiaFest is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Since its inception in 2004, CroatiaFest’s mission is to promote and preserve Croatian culture and to educate future generations of Croatian Americans and the general public with the richness and beauty of Croatian culture and Croatian American contributions to the building of the U.S. With the Honorary Croatian Consul to the State of Washington, Dr. Frank Brozovich, and the support of the Croatian American community of the Pacific Northwest and Canada, CroatiaFest is able to present Croatian culture, history, cuisine, music, original traditional costumes and dance to the thousands of festival attendees and the hundreds of visitors of the Seattle Center campus.
Our 2025/26 Season is Starting up! Come join us!
The Seattle Junior Tamburitzans (SJT) are accepting new members!
Rehearsals start Sunday September 7th, 2025. We would love to see you!
SJT has been providing tamburitza, kolo dancing, and singing since 1970 for greater Seattle and Puget Sound youth. Be a part of the tradition.
For more information, please email us at info@seattlejuniortammies.org
Annual SJT KAVANA Event!
We invite you to cheer on our young performers at an evening of traditional Croatian music, dancing and delicious food at our annual KAVANA event! Kavana performances will also feature music by Kisobran and Sinovi. Dinner entree will be sarma with mashed potatoes, side salad and homemade desserts.
Saturday, May 10th @ 5PM (Doors open at 4:30PM)
Kennedy Catholic High School
140 S 140th St | Burien, WA 98168
Get your Early-Bird Ticket Now! Includes dinner and entertainment:
$45 per person ($50 at the door)
Kids 5-17 $20 | Under 5 Free
Don't forget to purchase an ad for the Kavana booklet for your family, loved one or your business.
Visit the STORE tab to purchase tickets and ads.
Donations
As a registered non-profit organization, we rely on the generosity of our followers to help us continue our mission: to ensure that our Croatian heritage is preserved from generation to generation. If you have a tangible item that you would like to donate to our group (i.e. instrument, Croatian costume/costume accessories, etc.), please email us at info@seattlejuniortammies.org.
Thank you so much for your continued support!
SJT History
The Seattle Jr. Tamburitzans were founded in September, 1970 on inspiration received at the Croatian Fraternal Union's 4th Annual Jr. Tamburitza Festival, held in Pueblo, Colorado the previous July. The seed was sewn when 11 Seattle youngsters and their parents attending the concurrent Festival and CFU Jr. Convention liked what they saw and brought the idea home to Seattle.
From a rag-tag beginning, with antiquated instruments and generic folklore costumes, the group progressed steadily - growing in number, buying new instruments, and sharpening their musical repertoire. Wardrobe development proceeded more slowly.
Within months, the group began to appear publicly in Anacortes, Aberdeen, Roslyn, Tacoma, Nanaimo, Butte, and Vancouver. The highlights of these early years were the group's appearances at two World Fairs - Expo-74 in Spokane and the 1986 World Fair in Vancover.
In 1980, in order to participate in the 14th Annual Jr. Tamburitza Festival in Denver, the Seattle Jr's joined the CFU Jr. Cultural Federation. Sophistication soared as a result. Authentic costumes were imported, music stands were discarded, and more boys participated in the dance suites - adding the vigor called for by the choreography. In 1981, 1986, 1996, and 2004 the group undertook tours of Croatia that culminated with the CFU Junior Cultural Federation's festivals in Zagreb's famed Lisinski Concert Hall. The group toured Croatia independently in 2009. The group also has performed in CFU Jr. festivals in Pittsburgh, Orlando, Chicago (twice each) and in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Nashville, Toronto, and Los Angeles. Together with CFU Lodge 439, the group hosted the 1990 festival in Seattle's 5th Avenue Theater. Because of its west coast location, it is likely that the Seattle group has logged more miles than any other group to attend these festivals.
John Morovich, a graduate of the group and its current artistic director, was the guest conductor at the 2005 festival in Chicago - a truly distinct honor.