KHOTIV, Ukraine (AP) — Regardless of war-time restrictions, Ukrainians marked midsummer with festivals that featured frenetic folks dancing, flower ornament and leaping over bonfires.
The pageant of Ivana Kupala on Sunday was held as Ukrainians begin their third summer season at conflict, with Kyiv and different cities hit by regular blackouts and remaining underneath nightly curfew.
An hour’s drive south of the capital, a number of thousand joined the summer season pageant, many sporting shirts and clothes embroidered with conventional patterns.
Twisting comfortable twigs round leaves and flowers, Kateryna Harnik made floral crowns for herself and mates.
Harnik, a Kyiv resident, mentioned she was completely satisfied to attend a uncommon outside gathering.
“Individuals all the time wish to get collectively. And in occasions like this, with this horrible conflict happening, we nonetheless want the chance to return collectively, to bond collectively,” she mentioned, as a bunch of girls in conventional costumes took the close by stage to sing in concord.
This yr’s celebration, Harnik mentioned, carried extra significance for Ukrainians, as their statehood and id is challenged.
“Considered one of key weapons utilized by Russia on this conflict is the destruction of our Ukrainian tradition,” she mentioned.
“So it’s essential to recollect our traditions, to guarantee that we bear in mind our heritage and that we received’t let anybody take it away from us,” she mentioned.
Many Ukrainians hold an air raid app on their telephones to observe the hazard from Russian missile and drone strikes, whereas on the identical apparently decided to cling to common life — filling cafés and attending indoor dwell occasions, together with concerts, stand-up comedy reveals and circus performances for kids. Turbines rumble into motion throughout energy cuts.
Males underneath age 60 can’t go away Ukraine attributable to draft restrictions however many nonetheless speak about their post-war vacation plans.
The pageant of Ivana Kupala is much like celebrations for St John’s Eve or San Juan in lots of Western nations — a fusion of fireplace, water and nature that ties pagan traditions to the Christian calendar.
Sunday’s pageant exterior Kyiv was held at a nationwide heritage park, the place windmills, thatched homes and different conventional buildings have been reassembled after being dismantled and transported from all of the areas of Ukraine.
Youngsters giggled as they danced in circles round a bonfire to violin and bagpipe music.
{Couples}, holding palms, leapt over the flames, a couple of later receiving consideration from paramedics for sore ankles.
The heritage park’s director Oksana Poviake mentioned it was essential for folks to overlook their each day troubles but in addition to strengthen their id.
“Individuals can loosen up in a espresso store, at a restaurant or at dwelling,” she mentioned. “However right here, collectively in a big group, they really feel a way of belonging, belonging to their folks, who proper now are combating for his or her id.”
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Dmytro Zhyhinas and Anton Shtuka contributed.
