As part of the “Ethno-Toloka: Unity in Traditions” project, the Vuhledar and Khlibodar communities, with the support of the Volnovakha District State Administration, are launching a cultural event titled “Palm Sunday: Green Holidays.”
All residents, artisans, and creative groups in the Volnovakha district are invited to join in the revival and recreation of our region’s authentic customs!
Which customs do you want to revive together?
You can choose one or more areas to promote archival photos or video materials, or recreate a custom live and record it on video during Green Week:
🔹 Blessing of the Greens (Trinity Herbs): Let’s revive the tradition of gathering festive bouquets. For centuries, people have brought cattail (calamus), lovage, wormwood, mint, thyme, and linden branches to churches and homes, as these were considered powerful talismans against illness and evil spirits.
🔹 Decorating the home: the traditional practice of adorning buildings and courtyards with green branches (maple, oak, linden) and spreading fragrant calamus on the floor to purify the space.
🔹 Making herbal dolls: creating traditional motanka dolls filled with healing fragrant herbs, or formed from the herbs themselves.
🔹 Memorial custom: preserving the memory of ancestors. Let’s remember Parents’ Saturday and the ritual dishes prepared to commemorate deceased relatives during the Green Holidays.
🔹 Traditional taboos (ethnographic education): stories about ancient taboos—why it was strictly forbidden to work the land, chop wood, sew, or do laundry after a church service, so as “not to disturb the spirits.”
🔹 Rusalky Week: ritual activities for young women—wreath-making, dressing up, and “leading the bush,” fortune-telling on water, and the mysterious “kumlenia” ritual (ritual brotherhood through a wreath).
🔹 Any other unique rituals specific to your village or town!
How to join the campaign?
- Choose a format: it could be a theatrical performance, a workshop on wreath-weaving or making a herbal doll, an exhibition of authentic decorations, an ethno-hour, or an online lecture series.
- Get together: involve young people, artisans, and community elders who remember their grandmothers’ stories.
- Share with everyone: from May 28 to June 3, actively post videos and photos (both current and archival) on your cultural institutions’ social media pages.
- Let’s bring history to life together! Our traditions are our shield, our identity, and our pride. Let’s show the whole world the strength of our unity and the beauty of the Ukrainian soul of the Volnovakha region! We welcome everyone who hears the call of their ancestors!
- Tag your posts with the hashtags: #ЕтноТолокаЄдністьУТрадиціях #КлечальнийТижденьЗеленіСвята
Based on information from the Khlibodarivka Village Military Administration