We held our “Christmas Gatherings”, the first event of the series of educational events “School of Carols”!
Authentic carols together with the famous choir “Rozkopanchanochka”, stories from expeditions on where and how we collected Christmas traditions and songs, tasting pies…
We were very worried whether the people of Bohuslav would be interested in this topic. But when we realised that we had 75 people registered, it was a cause for inspiration. And the event itself was attended by over 100 guests! We didn’t even have enough seats for everyone!
We are glad that we managed to have an informal conversation where the expedition participants talked about the results of their 11 trips to the villages of Bohuslavshchyna. They talked about the folklore they had collected: carols and shchedrivky, how carols were performed in Bohuslavshchyna, what carollers were treated to, dressing up for Malanka, and the dishes they cooked on Christmas Eve. The story of how the real Ukrainian Christmas has been stolen for decades, banning authentic traditions, humiliating kids-carollers, and how, despite everything, Ukrainians have preserved theirs, passing it on from generation to generation, including in songs. After all, there is very little material heritage left, such as clothes, photographs, etc. But there are songs!
Interestingly, many of those we visited for memories recalled an old recipe for sugar beet and viburnum pies. More than half of those in the room had never even heard of this dish. So it was especially interesting to try it. Also, most of them did not know about the unique ancient recipe of Medvyn’s buttered pies. We thank Tetiana Tarasenko and Nataliia Tarasiuk for baking them. “It was a real quest during the power outage,” the craftswomen say. “But they managed to cook them, which made our event very special.
“The pies with butter were delicious! My mum is from Medvyn, and somehow she never told me whether they had such recipes or went carolling. And now I want to go back home and ask my mum, ask my boyfriend’s grandmother, she’s 83 years old, imagine how many stories she has!” enthusiastically stated Kateryna Seletska, a guest at the event.
The real gem of the Christmas Gathering was a performance and a workshop by the famous Rozkopanchanochka choir. Even the children grabbed printouts and diligently recited the following lyrics together with their adults: “The news has spread throughout the world, the Virgin Mary has given birth to a son…”.
“The very atmosphere of the pre-Christmas performance and its choral accompaniment, as well as very deep and meaningful speeches and stories, all intertwine into an explosive whirlwind of emotions, an endless stream of impressions. And you feel something very special and warm, cosy and family-like…” – pointed out Oksana Pavlichenko from Bohuslav.
“By the way, we are happy that we had a family event: there were both young people, families with children, and elderly people… The children painted and decorated Christmas mini-stars, the adults listened and talked, then everyone was treated to pies with uzvar [dried fruit drink], listened to songs, and sang along.
All these elements – different generations, culture, history, traditions – are what really strengthen us in these difficult times. We are together, we are fighting, we will win!
“Portal through the Centuries: Bohuslav Carols” is implemented by the “Around Us. UA” NGO as part of the training course “From Ideas to Action”, which is implemented with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED) within the framework of the Safe Harbour initiative. Its contents do not necessarily reflect the official position of the EED and are the sole responsibility of the “Buslav Sich” NGO.
Find more photos from the event in our photo report!
