Ukrainian Culture at its Best
The Embassy of Malaysia along with the diplomatic corps in Kyiv was delighted to participate in the All-Ukrainian Festival of Traditional Culture “Kupalsky Rosy” on 6 July 2018. The festival was founded by Ukrainian politician Pavlo Zhebrivskyi and held annually in observance of the Ukrainian Ivana Kupala Day or summer solstice. While the location of the festival is Mr. Zhebrivskyi’s hometown of Nemyryntsi village located in the Ruzhynskyi district of Zhytomyr region which is about 240km from Kyiv.
Upon arrival, the diplomatic corps were greeted with bread and salt which is the traditional Ukrainian welcome. It is also customary for the female festival goers to wear a flower wreath on their heads to celebrate the Kupala night. In that regard, the festival organiser had prepared a personalised wreath, in which every flower is a symbol of happiness and love, for the female participants from the diplomatic corps.
The highlight of the festival is the celebration of the Kupala night (summer night). Groups of men and women donning traditional Ukrainian embroidered clothes performed folk dances and sang songs about love and romance on Kupala night. They also light up a Marena (bonfire) and stood in circle around the Marena to perform spiritual and ancient rituals. Apart from that, the festival goers were enthralled by the fire dance performed by a group of talented boys and girls.
The opportunity to observe and participate in such a traditional festival has allowed members of the diplomatic corps to understand better Ukrainian culture and roots.
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