Ivana Kupala (Ivan's night, Ivan's day) is one of the main holidays in the Slavic (Slavonic) calendar - the birth day of Ivan the Baptist.

The traditional ceremonies and activities which are performed annually to mark the event (the Ivana Kupala's Eve), are complex and spectacular. They include collecting herbs and flowers, making wreaths, decorating buildings and huts with greenery and flowers, making big fires, burning scarecrows, jumping over the fire and over bushes, pouring water over each other, fortune telling, chasing witches, night-long orgy and roistering, etc.

The holiday called "Kupaila" has been known as a holiday of the Sun since the early Slavonic history. The millennium old tradition of celebrating first harvest, raising of herbs and first mowing became a central tradition of the culture since pagan times, and was enriched and enforced with adoption of Christianity. People would wear numerous decorations of flowers and herbs, wreaths and necklaces. They used to sing and dance a lot, and burned ritual fires. The fires were made by the oldest citizens by friction of wooden sticks, and the fires were "decorated" with setting up a post with a wooden wheel over it, which symbolized the sun.

In various Ukrainian cities, the Ivana Kupala holiday will be celebrated by arranging excursions to countryside areas and imitating the old style traditions there. All night long celebrations will be arranged, and those who attends the event can experience a feeling of being lost in time, as if they managed to drive back in time to a thousand years ago. If you like watching and participating in traditional national events, do not miss the Ivana Kupala holiday! You are going to enjoy every minute of it!

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