A fire in the oven, Christmas dishes and a candle on the table, carols and Christmas carols, the family gathering around the festive table... This is how our ancestors have been celebrating Christmas for generations. Being in different countries, we celebrate Christmas together with the whole world, love and appreciate European traditions, learn how it is celebrated in different countries and what are the historical features of the celebration.
At the same time, wherever we are, we honour our Ukrainian traditions of celebration and want to share it with the world, because it is part of our centuries-old history, traditions and identity.
The project "Christmas. Generous Evening. Traditions." is dedicated to traditional Ukrainian dishes on the Christmas table, in a warm family atmosphere, which have been prepared for many years for Christmas and for the Generous Evening.
To revive Ukrainian traditions, we visited the Mamayeva Sloboda living history museum in Kyiv, where authentic Ukrainian dishes are also still served.
"Shchedryk. Warm Christmas holidays are accompanied by carols and shchedryks.
The Ukrainian carol "Shchedryk" is over 100 years old and is also known around the world as the Christmas song "Carol of the Bells", a symbol of Christmas.
The piece is based on a popular Ukrainian Christmas carol.
The title of the song comes from the Ukrainian word for "generous".
The music for "Shchedryk" was written by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in the early 20th century.
Since then, the Ukrainian swallow has travelled the world and become a symbol of Christmas, uniting people in their belief in the Christmas miracle.
"Shchedryk" can be heard in all corners of the world in English, German, Spanish, Japanese, etc.
The Christmas holidays truly unite us all, regardless of our country. Traditions and food become special ties to the past that we pass on to future generations. We want to share our cultural heritage, but at the same time we feel connected to the rest of the world through the celebration of Christmas.