| January 1
|
New Year. |
| January 6
|
Vodokhresche, literally “Taking baptism in the water” (Epiphany) – Water is blessed by a priest on this day. In some cases, water is blessed directly in open air pools or ponds after holes have been cut into the ice. They are called Yordan to commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River.Believers cut holes in the ice before they can take the holy bath. According to Orthodox tradition, a priest would first say a prayer and bless a bathing site. Believers would get into the hole, submerge themselves in freezing water three times to honor the Holy Trinity and leave the bathing site. Ukrainians have, from time immemorial, believed the sick could recover when taking the holy bath. Ancestors thought the water gained healing powers at Epiphany night. |
| January 24 | International Day of Education proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in celebration of the role of education for peace and development. Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind. |
| February 24 – March 2 | Shrovetide (Maslyana) is the traditional Ukrainian Orthodox carnival celebrated during the week (sometimes three days) before the Great Lent. It starts a new cycle of courtship, a search for a mate to continue the bloodline (guests are treated to pancakes). |
| February 14 | St. Valentine’s Day (All lovers’ holiday). |
| February 20 | The Day of Heroes of the “Heavenly Hundred” is a commemorative day celebrated in Ukraine in honor of the exploit of participants in the Revolution of Dignity and perpetuation of the memory of Heroes of Heavenly Hundred. |
| March 8 | International Women’s Day. |
| March 25 | Annunciation – in Christianity, Archangel Gabriel appeared to Virgin Mary in the Annunciation to tell her she was to conceive through the power of the Holy Spirit and to be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah. It is believed that the spring has finally overcome the winter on this day. God blesses the land and opens it for sowing. And it is a popular belief that only after the Annunciation can people begin farm work. It is considered a grave sin “to disturb” the land before the Annunciation Day. |
| April 1 | April Fools’ Day – “April 1st When You Can Lie at Most!” – a day of laughter and practical jokes. |
| April 20 (2025) | Easter – the oldest major festival of the Christian church year, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Traditionally, people cook flavorous Easter cakes and colored Easter eggs, and bring them to church to be blessed by a priest. |
| May 1 | The spring and labor holiday is a symbol of the victory of workers in the struggle for their freedoms and rights. In fact, the International Workers’ Solidarity Day is designated the Labor Day. |
| May 8 | Remembrance and Reconciliation Day is the commemoration of victims of the Second World War and a reconciliation between the countries participating in WWII. This is a commemorative day in Ukraine, marking the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender (this event is seen as a symbol of the victory over Nazism). |
| May 11 | Mother’s Day is the popular holiday to honor mothers. |
| May 15 | The Vyshyvanka (Embroidered Shirt) Day is the international holiday, which is intended to preserve the original folk traditions of making and wearing ethnic Ukrainian embroidered clothes. It is celebrated annually on the third Thursday in May (weekday). The Vyshyvanka Day is intracultural and self-sufficient, bearing no relation to any national or religious holiday. Anyone may join Vyshyvanka Day celebration, wearing embroidered shirts. Donning vyshyvnakas, many Ukrainians would go to work, university, school or kindergarten on this day. |
| June 1 | International Children’s Day. |
| June 8
(2025) |
The Holy Trinity Day (Green Holiday) is one of the most revered ancient Christian feasts that is annually celebrated in Ukraine on the Sunday concluding the 50-day period following Easter, hence the name “Pentecost”. Many Slavic peoples call it the Spirit’s Day in honor of the Holy Spirit, which is one of the three persons of the Godhead. It is believed that the apostles learned all the fullness of the Holy Trinity on this very day and they beheld three persons of the Godhead: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. |
| June 23-24 | Ivan Kupala is the traditional East Slavic holiday, which is celebrated on the night before the Midsummer Day on June 24. Nowadays the holiday is also connected with the summer solstice. In the evening girls are saturated themselves with divination to foresee a fiance by casting their wreaths in the water while boys are to catch them. A wreath symbolizes happiness and a marriage. A girl should kiss the boy, who gets her wreath, and pair up with him during this holiday (as a rule, the choice is agreed beforehand). At first boys would jump over a bonfire, showing their dexterity, and after a flame has subsided, they leap in pairs with those girls whose wreaths they got. All of them think it is a point of honor to be cleansed by fire, jumping thrice over the bonfire. |
| June 28 | Ukraine’s Constitution Day is the public holiday in this country. It is observed each year on June 28 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution on the same day of 1996. |
| July 15 | Ukrainian Statehood Day. |
| August 1 | Makoviia (Honey-Poppy Savior) – Ukrainians celebrate the feast of Maccabeus, which is called the Day of Holy Seven Maccabees, Martyrs, by the Church calendar. Spasivka – the Fast of the Dormition that lasts two weeks – begins from this day. On this day people bless water, flowers and ripe poppy heads in the churches. Also, it is popularly known as the First Savior or Savior on the Water. |
| August 12 | International Youth Day. |
| August 23 | Ukraine’s National Flag Day is the public holiday in this country, which is devoted to one of its state symbols, namely the Flag of Ukraine. |
| August 24 | Ukraine’s Independence Day – Day of the Restoration of National Independence – is the public holiday in this country, which is celebrated in commemoration of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. This day is considered to be the date of the establishment of the Ukrainian state in its present form. |
| September1 | The Knowledge Day is a Soviet official holiday declared by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. on September 1, 1984. Ukraine and some other countries, particularly former Soviet republics, continue to celebrate this holiday that coincides with the start of the new academic year. First graders celebrate the “First Bell Holiday” on this day. |
| October 1 | The Protection of Holy Virgin is the feast of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God or, as people say, the Holy Protection. “The Protecting Veil covers grass with leaves, ground with snow, water with ice, and girls with a bridal crown.” In Ukrainian villages folks still hold to the old popular tradition of performing a wedding after the church feast of St. Mary the Protectress. |
| October 1 | The Day of Ukrainian Cossacks and Defenders of Ukraine – the feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin has been celebrated as the Day of Ukrainian Cossacks and Defenders of Ukraine in this country since 1999. It is traditionally believed that the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, was raised on the feast of the Intercession of the Theotokos in 1942, therefore October 1 is also celebrated as the UPA day. |
| October 5 | World Teachers’ Day is held annually to celebrate all teachers around the globe. It commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers, and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions. |
| November 10 | World Science Day for Peace and Development highlights the significant role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives. |
| November 17 | International Students’ Day is the annual international holiday of student activity. |
| December 6 | The Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is a holiday established by the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, in 1993. This holiday is annually celebrated in commemoration of the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On the Armed Forces of Ukraine” by the Verkhovna Rada in 1991. |
| December 25 | Christmas is the great Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Christ, the Savior of the world and Expiator who atoned for people’s sins. It falls on the longest night of the year when, after beliefs, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. Ukrainians make the traditional Christmas Eve dish Kutya from cooked wheat combined with honey, ground poppy seeds, and sometimes chopped nuts. |
| December 31 | The folk holiday Malanka and Vasyl is the Orthodox Christian New Year. Malanka celebrations stem from ancient pagan rituals. In rural areas, young villagers would dress up in costumes and go door to door, performing songs and skits and collecting donations of money and goods. Those performances were believed to bring prosperity and luck for the year ahead. |
