New Year’s Day, January the 1st, is a national public holiday in Ukraine. It marks the start of the year in the Gregorian calendar. In the end of December many Ukrainians decorate their Christmas tree and buy presents to give to one another. In Western Ukraine St. Nicholas day (December 19th) is the time when children get their presents from St. Nicholas (or so their parents let them believe). However, in the rest of the country New Year is the day for giving presents to kids, family and friends.
Ukrainians like to celebrate New Year’s Eve with friends and family. And in spite of freezing temperatures, they often toast the New Year outdoors. Midnight, New Year’s Eve in the center of the biggest Ukrainian cities is quite an endearing sight: people standing outside, shivering, teeth clattering – just to wish each other a happy new year, accompanied by the bang and sparkle of fireworks.

Just a decade or so ago, many Ukrainians still celebrated New Year including many Soviet era traditions. Olivier salad, a bottle of «Soviet» champagne and figurines of Grandpa Moroz and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Russian version of Santa Claus and Mrs Claus) under the New Year tree were must-have attributes of New Year celebrations. Luckily, city dwellers have begun to absorb the outdoorsy continental lifestyle of celebrating New Year with holiday fairs and street vendors selling hot mulled wine or cider.
Those who stay at home, often listen to presidential speech broadcasted on all national TV channels just before midnight. People gather together by the festive table with gourmet dishes and champagne. At midnight they raise a toast to drink to the New Year and congratulate each other.

New Year’s Day is a national holiday in Ukraine. Schools, banks and public offices are closed. If a holiday falls on a weekend, the Monday after the weekend is a day off for many people. Taxis and public transport options are generally available but it is best to check with the relevant transport authorities on schedules and ticket availability.

For Ukrainians Christmas is the most important family holiday of the whole year. It is celebrated solemnly, as well as merrily, according to ancient customs that have come down through the ages and are still observed today. Ukrainian Christmas customs are based not only on Christian traditions, but, to a great degree, on those of the pre-Christian, pagan culture and religion. The Ukrainian society was basically agrarian at that time and had developed an appropriate pagan culture, elements of which have survived to this day.
Just a short time after New Year,Ukrainians are celebrating Orthodox Christmas, which is the most important family holiday of the whole year. It is celebrated solemnly, as well as merrily, according to ancient customs that have come down through the ages and are still observed today. Ukrainian Christmas customs are based not only on Christian traditions, but, to a great degree, on those of the pre-Christian, pagan culture and religion. The Ukrainian society was basically agrarian at that time and had developed an appropriate pagan culture, elements of which have survived to this day.

Some Ukrainians (mostly in Western Ukraine) celebrate Christmas on December 25 in accordance with the Roman Catholic tradition (Gregorian Calendar). Most of Ukrainians belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church and follow the Julian calendar. This means that all holidays in Ukraine lag exactly 13 days behind. Ukrainian Christmas will be in the house on January 7th each year officially. The period from January 7 to January 14 is a festive week in Ukraine. During this week people often dress up in traditional clothes (Vyshyvanka), visit their relatives, sing Christmas carols (e.g. Kolyadka), and have festive dinners with the family.
The Christmas Eve Supper or Sviata Vecheria (Holy Supper) brings the family together to partake in special foods and begins the holiday with many customs and traditions, which reach back to antiquity. The rituals of the Christmas Eve are dedicated to God, to the welfare of the family, and to the remembrance of the ancestors.

There are two main groups of Christmas songs in Ukraine: the koliadky, which are sung on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; the second group of Christmas songs is called shchedrivky, which are sung during the Feast of the Epiphany. Teams of carolers start roaming their hometowns on January 7. They are often dressed as characters present during Christ’s birth in Bethlehem (the three Kings, Angels, Shepherds, Herod), but also as the ritual goat, and such characters as the Gypsy and Jew, which had a special place in the life of Ukraine’s village agricultural society, as well as Death that comes to take Herod.

Koliadky and shchedrivky are the oldest groups of Ukrainian folk songs. They are sung by Ukrainians at Christmas time throughout the world. Carol of the Bells is the iconic Christmas music that everyone knows. But not many know that it's a Ukrainian folksong. The Ukrainian song "Shchedryk" became the basis for the world famous Christmas carol, "Carol of the Bells". The world-known lyrics of Wilhousky speak about the ringing of bells that call to throw cares away. The original lyrics based on the Ukrainian folk song “Schedryk” are much less known. Though they are based on the same melody, the lyrics of the two songs share nothing in common. The original lyrics of Ukrainian version speaks about a swallow that flew into a master’s household and started twittering to him about the increase of his livestock.

One more fun Christmas tradition in Ukraine is Vertep. Vertep, the Ukrainian Christmas puppet theater, is a group of people going from house to house with short Biblical themed scenes and carol singing. After seeing the performance, the host traditionally gives money or food to Vertep.
To get a glimpse of unique Ukrainian Christmas traditions and rituals that have survived till our days visit Pyrohovo open-air museum for vernacular architecture or Park «Mamayeva Sloboda» in Kyiv. If you happen to be in Lviv during Christmas holidays go to the Shevchenkivsky Gai on January 7th, 8th or 9th. «Ukrainian Christmas in Shevchenkivsky Gai» folk festival happens annually for these 3 days. Here you will discover authentic Ukrainian Christmas traditions, listen to the oldest Ukrainian Christmas carols and taste traditional Ukrainian Christmas food and drinks. However to get a real feel of Ukrainian Christmas with 0 % of buffoonery and touristy traps, go to the rural areas of the western Ukraine. Book a B&B or a hotel room in Lviv or Ivano Frankivsk region or in one of the Carpathian villages to witness the true Ukrainian Christmas mystery.

New Year and especially Christmas celebration in Ukraine has a long history and a vivid set of traditions and rituals, all of which allow foreigners get a glimpse of unique cultural identity that miraculously survived on the outskirts of modern Europe.