Ukraine's midsummer festival in its natural habitat

My Kupala
Vladyslava bondar
When I meet people and they hear about what I do and
what Kupala is, they sometimes ask ‘So, why did you
get involved in Kupala?’ There are so many reasons
why.

My Grandparents' Village
Meet the biggest reason – the village of Trubaitsi, where my mum is from and where I celebrated Kupala as a child, in Poltava oblast, central Ukraine. Surrounded by a forest, a river, meadows and cherry trees, it was a perfect place for everything folkloric, and a perfect place for me to experience village childhood in my grandparents' house.

A Free Space
As you can see, Trubaitsi village has very beautiful
nature. Part of it is a boloto, a wetland, that
surrounds the village on one side, and that you can
see from my grandparents' yard. I used to spend a lot
of time there just wandering around, enjoying the free
space, the sound of the reeds, the beautiful sky, the
birds, frogs, flowers and wild village
mosquitoes.

My Spirit Friends
When I was a child, my favourite form of escapism was thinking about Trubaitsi and the boloto, and about how when I grew up I would make friends with rusalkas and other folkloric spirits that, I imagined, lived in the boloto. I imagined us being such good friends that I would be allowed into their territory behind the reeds, and that they would even babysit my kids.

Where We Swam
On another side, Trubaitsi is surrounded by the
Khorol river and meadows. This area is called
Kupalnia, from the word 'to bathe’, and me and my
friends went there every summer to swim in the river.
It's very likely that back in the old days, our
great-grandparents celebrated Kupala there, placing
flower crowns on the water and jumping over the fire.
That’s right, they celebrated Kupala in Kupalnia.

Our Childhood Kupala
I myself have celebrated Kupala since I was little.
That night, every year, all the people of the village
gathered together and I joined them. I always knew
that my two best friends Zhenia and Andrii would be
waiting for me in their house, so we could run to the
Kupala site at the other end of the village together.
The celebration started with a talent show show for
kids in which we usually took part, because Zhenia was
very talented, I was very adventurous and Andrii
basically had no choice!

Kupala Night In Trubaitsi
Then there were folk songs and food. Adults sang and
danced, and children and teenagers put flower crowns
on the water and gazed at the enormous fire, not
daring to jump through it.

The Woman I Wanted To Be
The woman who organised and led the celebration when I was a child was Pasha Ivanivna, the deputy director of the village club, and my little self was absolutely in awe of her. You could really see her passion and drive and skills, and how the evening was something she deeply cared about. At that time, if I was asked whom I wanted to be, I replied ‘a teacher’, while a part of me was thinking ‘Pasha Ivanivna’.

Dances With Spirits
I was also a dancer, and our team learned lots of
stage folk dances and performed them at festivals. Of
course, my favourite ones were our Kupala routines.
When I was little, in winter I would sit at home in my
parents' village daydreaming about summer, Trubaitsi,
the boloto and what routines I could choreograph for
rusalkas and other folkloric spirits when I finally
got to be friends with them.

The Women Who Created Kupala
So why did I get involved in Kupala? Well, how could I not get involved in Kupala? But a huge part of my Kupala was created and organised for me and other kids by women who didn't actually have their own Kupalas when they were young. because Kupala almost disappeared in Soviet times. Now, as an adult woman myself, sharing that midsummer magic with kids, I am more interested than ever in those women’s Kupala stories, of how they managed to save Kupala and pass it on to us.