The Festival of Ivana Kupala is a Ukrainian midsummer celebration of great beauty. It was first described in the nineteenth century, but it has ancient roots and dates back centuries, if not millennia. The festival centers around fire and water, symbolic of the sun and the rain needed to make crops grow. Vegetation also appears in a decorated tree and in the wreaths of flowers and grasses worn by the young women who are the celebrants of the Kupala ritual. Young women sing and dance around the Kupala bonfire and around the decorated tree. This is a time of magic, and the women use their wreaths to predict who their husbands will be. There is also a belief that a magic fern (paporot) blooms on the night of Ivana Kupala and on this night only. Plucking the fern blossom is very risky, but it is said to reveal buried treasure. 

Pysanka Festival presents a re-enactment of the Ivana Kupala festival as part of Canada Day festivities at Pysanka Festival in Vegreville Alberta on July 1st, 2011. Join us in the morning to participate in workshops where you will learn the songs and dances of the Kupala celebration. There will be a chance to make wreaths in the traditional manner using wild flowers and herbs (wreaths were worn by young girls looking to find their beloved). Another workshop will feature the intricate art of tying kerchiefs into the striking headpieces worn by married women. There will be a chance to participate in the decorating of the Kupala tree and in the making of Kupala and Marena effigies. Children can learn and play traditional Ukrainian summer games. After the workshops, watch a play that re-enacts traditional Ivana Kupala festivities and enjoy the traditional songs and dances performed by Arts of Life Studio vocal ensemble “Ridna Pisnya” and Ukrainian National Federation's amateur drama theatre “Suziria”, along with Edmonton singer and song writer Luba Bilash, Rumanian Folk Dance group “Balada”, virtuoso violinist Vasyl Popadiuk (www.papaduke.com), soprano soloist Svitlana Sech, Ukrainian Dancers Chrystyna Chumak and Deeyana Baydala.