The village of Khokhytva recreated a local Midsummer tradition of Kupala that dates back several hundred years. It happened as part of the event ‘Ethnography. Ethnology. ICH’ by the ’Around Us. UA’ NGO, and brought together a hundred leading ethnologists, folklorists, and well-known researchers of intangible cultural heritage in Bohuslavshchyna.
Marharyta Skazhenyk, a senior researcher at the Research Laboratory of Ethnomusicology of the National Music Academy, undertook the task of recreating the festival. She shared her experience with the participants of the event, how they were searching for local songs sung on Kupala, and the manner of singing.
“Kupala is no longer celebrated in the villages around Bohuslav, although it used to be. In the south of the former Bohuslav district, in the villages of Krasnohorodka, Poberezhka, and Sofiyka, several Kupala songs were recorded in the 1970s. The Podillia tradition is very close to this area. In the village of Sofiyka, for example, during the expedition we recorded some details about Kupala traditions: how they used to weave ‘kachany’ from bunches of cherries, how they sang around the ‘hiltsia’, and the divinations connected with the wreath floating on the water.
In those villages, people used to sing Kupala songs in unison, humming. The group singing is dominated by parallel tertiaries, and there is a tempo contrast: they start slowly and then speed up. One of the singers has to duplicate the melody an octave higher with a thin voice (‘squeak’).”
The Volodar band performed several of these local songs and held a singing masterclass for the participants.
Then the programme moved to the Luky tract in Khokhytva, where the participants were welcomed by local craftsmen, folk groups and skilfully decorated locations in ethnic style. Here, they could get to know the summer traditions of local cooking, dancing, singing, learn how to weave wreaths and take part in Kupala rituals.
The Volodar band continued to sing local songs, and three musicians from Kyiv performed the melodies of ancient Ukrainian dances: ‘’Hrechanyky‘’, ‘’Yakov‘’, ‘’Horlytsi‘’ and ‘’Metelytsi‘’.
The first thing we did was to try some local delicacies. Hostesses from the village of Chayky, Olena Shnurenko and Raisa Zaporizka, treated us to poppy seed cakes and “varyokha” (dried fruit/berries drink).
“Varyokha was not supposed to be an everyday drink. In our village, it was a wedding treat. On the first day of the wedding, it was served in a decanter near the newlyweds, on a table decorated with periwinkles and viburnum. The newlyweds drank it on the first day of the wedding. On the third day, all the guests were treated to it. And in Mysaylivka, it was always served at the table during the send-off. This is a non-alcoholic drink. It is made from cherries, plums and viburnum. The spices are bay leaf, peas, allspice. Cloves can also be added, and capsicum, red hot pepper. They served it cold.”
Yana Hamarnyk from Bohuslav served a variety of varenyky that her grandmother used to make: with cottage cheese, poppy seeds, cherries, cabbage, and ‘torn’ dumplings. In addition, a variety of cheeses from a cheese factory in the village of Rozkopantsi were on offer.
At the workshop area, Natalia Shevchenko taught lavender bouquet weaving and treated guests to herbal teas from her field in Mysaylivka; Daria Lyashenko taught how to weave various decorations and figurines from grass; and Valentyna Tkach taught how to weave on a mini-loom.
Together with craftswomen from Khokhytva, Kateryna Robak and Kateryna Zubko, the participants learned how to weave Kupala wreaths.
“Back then, wreaths were made from all the herbs that are growing nowadays: yarrow, oregano, and tutsan. One weaves the wreath crosswise and makes a wish with each movement until the wreath is woven into a circle. Then they put it on the water to float and check which side it floats to – this was the sign where the future groom lives,” says Kateryna Robak.
Later, together with the participants of the event, the craftswomen decorated the “Marena”.
At the end of the festival, people had a chance to jump over the Kupala bonfire, swing on the swings and swim in the warm waters of the Ros’ River, on the bank of which, quite nearby, stands the house where the writer Marko Vovchok resided.
The event is supported by the Partnership for a Strong Ukraine Fund, which is funded by the governments of Canada, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
