From the remotest time, in Ukraine on the 13th of December is celebrated St. Andriy’s Day. Long before the church began commemorating of saint apostle Andriy, this day had been connected with pre-Christian ceremonies and magic rituals.
Nowadays students remember this holiday and make real feast on St. Andriy’s Day. At Professional and Technology Education Department the students and guests were invited to feel spirit of Ukrainian past, take part in old traditions and customs. The students were dancing, singing, preparing delicious vareniki (meat, fruit or curd dumplings) and kalita. The main part of Andriy’s parties was fortune-telling. From ancient times girls were told fortune, because they wanted to get to know the name of their future husband, his profession and who would get married first.
The day before the feast at the hostel of USPU took place a theatre event “Andriy’s parties”. The girls were told fortune, asked boys riddles, competed in telling tongue twisters. They were singing Ukrainian national songs, watched theatre miniatures of Golohvastov and Galia from the play by Mykhailo Starytskiy “To kill with one stone”, Motria and Melashka from “Kaidasheva family” by Ivan Nechuy-Levutskiy.
A theatre event “Andriy’s parties” was prepared by a student of Ukrainian Philology Department under the guidance of candidate of pedagogical sciences, assistant professor Inna Tereshko.
The stage of the assembly hall transformed into an old Ukrainian house with embroidered towels, traditional stove, earthenware crockery, delicious meals. The holiday was full of national songs, games, jokes and entertainments.
Like in the ancient times, the girls helped the host to prepare supper, sang songs, waiting for the boys. When the boys came the real feast had begun – both Ukrainian traditional actions and new tendencies. Ukrainian girls decided to look for a future husband via Internet abroad.
The folklore ensemble “Sofia” (director – Vasyl Semenchuk and a new collective “Lelia” (director – Tetyana Khlivna) supplemented traditional actions by national songs.
The culmination of the Ukrainian party was traditional kalita “biting”. The event was ended with a final song that had become a symbol of nation’s unity.
Candidate of pedagogical sciences, professor Natalia Syvachuk thanked the event “Andriy’s parties” organizers for a true national ethnology feast.
Our Ukrainian generation is strong while our memories about past are fresh. Let’s save a beautiful treasure of national customs, traditions and rituals. It contains wisdom, wits, humour, hope for better future.
