On January 13-14, the Bukovyna Carnival "Malanka in Vashkivtsi" will be held

Vashkivetska Malanka 2017 is a unique phenomenon in Ukraine. Once a year in the town on the Cheremosh, Malanka is celebrated in a way that amazes the whole world. The holiday begins on the evening of the Old New Year, January 13, 2017 at 21:00. At that time, almost everybody in every house, from boys to old ladies, dons fantastic masks and costumes and goes from house to house. In this way, the "pereberei" congratulate the owners and drive away and fool all kinds of evil spirits and witches.

Every year, crowds of visitors from all over Ukraine come to the carnival in Vashkivtsi. Here you can not only see the original costumes and masks, but also have a good laugh at the most painful and urgent problems of our lives. The holiday ends with water purification: Malanka participants go to the river and bathe in an ice-hole together. You won't see so many quirks and pranks at one time and place anywhere else!

Vashkivetska Malanka is an annual traditional festive and theatrical performance that takes place in the Bukovyna town of Vashkivtsi on January 13-14 on the Old New Year. The original name is "Pereberia," which means cross-dressing. The main participants of the event are Malanka, Kozak, Buk Shandr, Ukrainka, bears, gypsies, grandfather and grandmother - men and boys in disguise. New characters also appear every year, and in recent years Malanka has often reflected the most high-profile events of the past year and shown them in its own vision. The celebration has been held in this format for over 100 years.

Vashkiv residents prepare for the holiday so carefully and have so much fun celebrating it that the word has long since spread to all parts of Ukraine. And every year there are more and more people who want to come to the carnival in honor of Malanka and Vasyl. The holiday is called Pereberia (cross-dressing). Only men from Vashkivtsi take part in it.

The action begins on January 13 at about 8-9 p.m. The disguised men go out into the streets of the town, gather in groups, go from house to house, and congratulate the owners of the estate on Malanka. At the same time, in Horishnyi Kut (a conditionally divided part of the city), the main participants of the action gather in the house of a respected owner. In the courtyard, there is a constant "borynka" - a competition between bears to see who can outbear whom. Each bear has its own gypsy - the bear's owner.

Around 10:30 p.m., all the bears, Gypsies, Cossacks, and Bukshandr go in the direction of Hnatyshnyi Kut, where the borynka between the corners will take place. On the way, the disguised people entertain the spectators. Women "hit on" unattired guys, bears throw girls along the way, scare children, and Cossacks are restoring order to the chaos. The roads are traveled by dressed-up cars with loud music.

By the way, only men traditionally take part in the performances, but occasionally you can find women in disguise. There is no age limit - despite the cold season and even severe frost, you can meet all kinds of evil spirits on the streets, from small to large. It is not easy to fight back. If you are only lightly beaten with a broom, consider yourself lucky. They can also throw water on you and smear you with soot.

Around midnight, the disguised residents of Horishnyi and Hnatyshnyi Kutoriv gather near the border between the corners and hold a fight, in which about a hundred disguised people take part. Then the action moves to the intersection of the three corners on Khrestova Road, near the bakery. The bears compete with each other. Everyone jokes, dances, and has fun, forgetting about all everyday problems for two days.

Without exaggeration, for many people this is their favorite holiday of the year.

Around 3 a.m., some of the dressed Malanka players go to rest for a few hours to continue the action at 8 a.m., while others stay out all night, traveling from house to house, caroling, malanka, and making "shows" in the owner's yard.

And at dawn, the carnival moves to the roads to meet newcomers. Until the evening, it would not be easy to drive through the village - the costumed people would "catch" cars, buses, even cyclists, and literally force them to take part in the festivities. In return, they generously sprinkled them with millet, wishing them a rich and happy year.

Participants perform satirical comedy sketches from everyday life and high-profile world events.

Koinash Street leads to this famous place, starting behind the railway crossing near the bus station. A mandatory attribute of the celebration is the bathing of Malanka participants in the small Teplytsia River, which originates from underground burrows, so it never freezes in winter and flows through the Horishnyi Kut. During bathing, Malanka participants purify themselves from evil spirits that might have "stuck" to them during Malanka and expel evil spirits. It is forbidden to ignore the bathing procedure. Moreover, no one has ever caught a cold because of this ritual, as the locals claim.

People prepare for the holiday in different ways. Some people start from the eve of January 13, while others spend the whole year drawing sketches and sewing costumes. It can be as simple as choosing a suitable mask and finding the right clothes in the closet. Or it can cost 10,000 UAH for sewing costumes and customizing a vehicle, which modern maskers like to drive around in.

How to get to Vashkivtsi for Malanka? Arrive in the Chernivtsi region, Vyzhnytsia district, Vashkivtsi on January 13-14. GPS coordinates: Latitude 48°22'50.25 "N, Longitude 25°29'57.52 "E, link on Google map. If you don't have a place to stay, book a hotel in advance.

Why Vashkivtsi? Malanka used to be celebrated all over Ukraine, but this tradition disappeared at the beginning of the last century. But the former owner of the town, Count Petrino, liked this tradition very much. He awarded the owner of the best mask so that he basked in the glory for the next year, and gave a barrel of vodka and a barrel of beer to everyone who took part in the carnival.

In later times, the people of Vashkivtsi liked to take part in the malanka. During the Soviet era, they tried to suppress malanka in Vashkivtsi, but at that time people were only more enthusiastic about dressing up. However, one can hear that the first initiators of Malanka at the current level were members of the Sich society Osyp Bezpalko and Ivan Herasymovych, who used New Year's masks to convey the most interesting pages of the town's life during the year.

Be that as it may, tens of thousands of people from Bukovyna, many parts of Ukraine, and even from far abroad come to Vashkivtsi every year for the festival on the Old New Year's Eve. And every year, the number of fans of this carnival event grows more and more, because Malanka is a real winter carnival in Vashkivtsi, Chernivtsi region. That's why the residents of Vashkivtsi prepare for this day all year round: they write scripts, prepare masks, and sew festive clothes. It is definitely worth visiting this celebration of Ukrainian folk traditions at least once in your life. For many people in Vashkivtsi, it is the most important holiday of the year and one they are proud of.

Welcome to the carnival capital of Ukraine: Vashkivtsi, Vyzhnytsia district, Chernivtsi region!