Christmas in Ukraine

Christmas is a wonderful holiday, it’s a feast of Christ’s birth and it’s celebrated on the eve
of 7th of January. The Christmas Eve is considered as the most interesting part of
Christmas as it has ritual and magic acts aimed at ensuring a good harvest and a life of
plenty. Caroling is a characteristic feature of the feast, it expresses respect for the master of
the house and his children, and sometimes it’s accompanied by a puppet theatre.
The religious festival lasts three days and involves Christmas liturgies, caroling, visiting and
entertaining relatives and acquaintances. The Christmas tree was adopted from Western
Europe, but today it’s the element of the New Year celebration in Ukraine.
Christmas is the holiday when all members of the family gather together. This is the holiday
of joy. Comparatively with Great Britain and some other countries Ukrainian people don’t
exchange presents on this holiday. Children like to have fun on this holiday, they go from
door to door, sing carols and people give sweets to them. As it was already mentioned,
«Kutya» is a traditional Ukrainian Christmas dish. It is cooked by mothers and godchildren
take it to their godparents. Although this holiday appeared long ago but nowadays many
people still like to go to church and listen to Christmas sermons.
Ivanova Veronika