Christmas and New Year in Ukraine
Сhristmas and New Year in Ukraine.
The New Year's Day is celebrated in Ukraine on the first of January. In the evening on the thirty-first of December Ukrainian families get together to welcome the New Year. They decorate New Year's Tree, put presents under it for all members of the family. Mothers prepare lots of tasty food for festive table. It is a warm family holiday. Ukrainians like to stay at home on this day.
Ukrainian schoolchildren have New Year's parties at schools. They sing songs and dance around the New Year's Tree. Father Frost comes and gives them presents. Children are happy, after New Year's parties their winter holidays begin. People send postcards to the relatives and friends to wish them a Happy New Year and Merry Christmas.
Ukrainian people celebrate Christmas on the seventh of January. The evening before Christmas (January sixth) is called the Holy Evening. At this time all the families get together for the Holy Supper.There are twelve different dishes on the table. A traditional.dish is "kutya". It has 12 lenter dishes symbolic of the 12 Apostles who gathered with Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. A lighted candle is always placed on the window-sill for homeless strangers. As soon, as the first star appears in the sky the head of the family brings a decoration made from wheat, so-called "Didukh". It remains standing till the new year, and then it is taken out. The family gather around the dining table. The first dish is "kutya" which is cooked of wheat with honey, seeds, and nuts. Usually there are many dishes with mushrooms. All dishes are prepared without meat. During these holidays we can see many young people in funny and strange clothes. They walk along the streets and congratulate everybody during these holidays. These groups are called "Vertep". They sing songs called "Koliadas".
Everybody likes Christmas, but a folk proverb says, "Christmas comes but once a year".
On Christmas people go to church and sing Christmas songs which glorify Christ's birthday. Christmas is one of the most favorite holidays of the year in Ukraine.