Ivana Kupala festival at Zaporizhia in Sudbury

Ivana Kupala celebrations are for folks who like to mix a little bit of danger
 in with their fun. In a controlled, family-friendly environment of course!

The Sudbury Ukrainian community will be gathering to celebrate the Ivana Kupalo festival on Saturday, July 7, 2012 at Zaporizhia the UNF campground on Richard Lake in Sudbury off of Highway 69 North. The event begins at 5:00 p.m. and finishes about midnight.

It starts off by creating male and female representations of spring. They are built on wooden structures using hay and old clothing. Once they are created there will be a celebratory feast - including roast pig. Cost for the meal is a $10.00 donation all you can eat!

The festival harkens back to an earlier age full of arcane traditions. Photo may
not represent actual events at Camp Zaporizhia

Then everyone heads off to the wreathe making centre. While the women braid flowering wreathes the men join in a sing-along accompanied by accordian players. Halia Buba will conduct a merry song battle between the men and women. Once the wreaths are completed then a large fire is made in the firepit. Each person then receives a flower with a ribbon attached and decorates a tree while singing and dancing to various Ukrainian spring songs. Then the decorated tree is burnt in the firepit along with the two stuffed hay figures. 

When that is done, the women take the flowered wreaths and place lit candles in the wreaths. They thn carry the wreaths to the lake in a procession singing songs and the males follow. Songs are sung as the sun sets while the women  place their wreaths on surface of the lake one at a time. More songs are sung by all. Some men will retrieve some of the wreaths while others float to all areas of the lake. There is all sorts of layers of meaning and significance to these rituals, so take a few seconds to google Ivana Kupala to learn more!

 After the lakeside ceremony, everyone heads off to a zabava for even more fun.

Ivana Kupala festival is a great option for families. Camp Zaporizhia has a campground where you can pitch a tent or park an RV and stay the weekend. Many UNF members and guests will be camping out at the campgrounds. There are washrooms, showers, dock, beach area, volleyball area, horseshoe pits, large field for playing soccer, baseball ect. and lots of tenting places. For the more domesticated revellers, the Richard Lake Motel is not far from Camp Zaporizhia.

For information about Ivana Kupala celebrations in the Toronto area go here: Ivana Kupala Festival - Camp Sokil.