Fun and festivities in Ukraine - celebrations, festivals and cultural events

Among the Ukrainian holidays and holiday traditions, there are those well-known to Europeans, for example, the New Year and the First of May holidays. There are also unique holidays, like ceremonies for Ivan Kupala, celebrating Christmas and New Year twice, a new holiday called Day of Defender of Ukraine and interesting traditions of Palm Sunday. Ukraine combines European traditions, Orthodox Christianity rituals and the pagan heritage of the Eastern Slavs. Holidays are celebrated on a large scale, and pagan as well as orthodox traditions are honored even by faithless Ukrainians.

Ukraine celebrates the New Year with most of the world from the night of December 31st to January 1st. The Christmas trees are decorated in the middle of December. The celebration starts in the evening or in the middle of the day, the table is set with all sorts of dishes. It is impossible to imagine a New Year’s celebration without the traditional Olivier salad. Usually, the holiday is celebrated with the family in front of the TV, accompanied with the songs of popular artists. After the striking of the clock, the celebrants go outside to play snowballs and launch fireworks. After the arrival of New Year, the youth tries to meet with friends to continue the holiday celebration. The New Year’s symbols are the gray-bearded Santa Claus, dressed in white or blue clothes and traveling by sled with horses, and his granddaughter Snow Maiden, who is represented differently: from a little girl to a young woman.

Ukrainians celebrate Christmas according to the Orthodox calendar, on January 7th. This holiday is not celebrated with such noise and scope as the New Year. During its celebration, pagan rituals can be observed, especially in the countryside. Celebrants, sometimes in masks of animals, go caroling, that is, they go from house to house singing Christmas songs, and the owners of the houses treat them to sweets. It is interesting that from 2017 Ukrainians officially began to celebrate the Catholic Christmas on December 25th, which symbolizes Ukraine’s support for European orientation, and the adoption of European values. Anyway, two Christmases sounds great. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

The Old New Year is celebrated on the 14th of January. This is not a state public holiday, but it falls on the last days of the New Year breaks. The festivity appeared because of the transition from one calendar to another, between which there is a difference of 13 days. Old New Year is the last chance to have fun before the inevitable end of the holidays. Many faithful Ukrainians celebrate the Day of the Baptism of Russia on the nineteenth of January, by dipping into an ice hole, carved into the form of crosses. It is believed that dipping into an ice water three times in the middle of winter clears a person and heals him of all diseases.

On March 8th, Ukraine celebrates International Women’s Day. After the collapse of the USSR, this celebration of equality acquired a completely different meaning. Now it is called “the holiday of beauty and spring”, and during the celebration, women of all ages are wished not success and strength, but beauty and femininity. The Great Day, or Easter, is celebrated in April with Easter painted eggs that symbolizes the beginning of life. Ukrainians paint eggs with pleasure in order to break them together later at the table and eat them. The holiday does not do without a sweet Easter cake, which is blessed in the church. 49 days after Easter, Trinity Day is celebrated. People attend services in churches and go to the graves of relatives, where it is common to commemorate the dead, treat themselves to a meal and sometimes drink wine. Many people also leave food at the graves. It is believed that the souls of the dead return to earth on Trinity day and eat the food left at their grave.

The April Palm Week, ending on Palm Sunday, relates to the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. On Saturday and Sunday, according to the old custom, many Ukrainians beat each other with pussy willow branches to cure diseases and expel evil spirits. In the beginning of May, Ukrainians have a lot of time-out because of the large number of holidays. The first of May is Labor Day. Till the 19th century, spring was celebrated on this day, and from Soviet times, peaceful demonstrations of workers are held on May 1st. May 9th is one of the most important holidays, marking the USSR Victory Day over the Nazis, the end of the war. Parades, meetings with veterans, and special demonstrations are held throughout the country. Old and new war films are broadcasted on television too.

From the end of June to the beginning of July, Ivan Kupala, or the Day of the Summer Solstice is celebrated. According to belief, a fern blossoms during this time. It gives the person who found it the opportunity to find any treasure, an understanding of the language of animals, and other incredible powers. On this holiday, it is customary to jump over bonfires, to tell fortunes through the flower wreaths, and gather herbs. Since 1996, on June 28th, the Constitution Day of Ukraine is celebrated; this holiday was considered by Ukrainians as an important one after the Revolution of 2014. Before that, it did not have much weight, even as a public holiday and a day off. On August 24th, Independence Day from the USSR is celebrated. On this day, a military parade is being held in Kiev, likewise gala concerts are held in many cities of Ukraine. On the 14th of October, the Day of the Defender of Ukraine is celebrated. This is a new holiday, introduced in 2014 because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, the 14th of October is the day of the Ukrainian Cossacks.