Macclesfield-based Ukrainians celebrate summer solstice their way on special evening
The summer solstice was last week, and while it may feel like a mere conversational topic to bring up at the dinnertable for most Brits, it is a massive tradition in Ukraine.
And Ukrainians who have took solace in Macclesfield over the past few months were able to celebrate the summer solstice their way on Wednesday June 21.
Farmers very kindly let the Ukrainian community, hosts and friends have an evening ceremony at Otter's Pool, Wincle.
With Macclesfield Forest in itself being intertwined with folklore, and the rolling hills even being reminiscent of the forests of Europe, there could not have been a more appropriate location. A sentiment echoed by the Ukrainians who attended the event.
"A lot of people said that the hills reminded them of home", said Tamara, a Ukrainian that has moved to Macclesfield eight months ago following the war.
The holiday - 'Ivana Kupala' - dates back to hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ (BC).
But despite Soviet Union occupation and now Russia's invasion, the tradition still persists.
In some parts of Ukraine, it is hugely celebrated, and they really believe in what it will give them.
Festival traditions include a flower crown being thrown down the river by a virgin woman, and the man who picks her up will be her future partner.
A similar practice sees a tree being built up, broke down and thrown down the river, and a wreath picked out of the river represents their future partners and good luck with fertility.
"Before Summer Solstice it had been quite an emotional few days", added Tamara who is a grandmother and originally from Chernichiv, but moved to Macclesfield to escape her home near Kyiv last year.
"There was the explosion of the hydroelectric station, and my son's car exploded in Kyiv.
"And we thought it was going to rain, but the event went great and the singing was so inspirational to the soul and flushed the negative emotions away.
"I want to say thank you so much to the English community. It was a great joy to celebrate Ukrainian traditions here."
Everyone was welcome to the event celebrating Ukrainian culture. But if you missed it don't fret.
Many of those who attended were part of a new choir which has been formed by Tamara, and practice at Macclesfield's St. Peter's Church on Fridays at 5:30pm.
Anyone is welcome to join, regardless of whether you have any connection to the Ukrainian community. The choir is free to take part.
And it is like no other choir, as you will be singing in a low register that is traditional of Ukrainian folk choir singing.
The choir wants to share the message of the joy and spirit of singing, as well as the beauty of the Ukrainian language.
"I didn't remember celebrating Ukrainian summer solstice as a child because it was banned by the USSR," recalled Tamara.
"But in Kyiv, there is a small island where people every year get together to preserve this special holiday. And I remember visiting when I grew up and seeing women singing on summer solstice."
Fast-forward to today, and 70 Ukrainians or friends of Ukrainians have sung, danced and kept traditions alive at the Wincle beauty spot.
Asiah Cullen, a Tatar-Ukrainian now British citizen born on Russian soil and Macclesfield resident for 23 years, is one of the producers for the choir.
"I had never been able to sing in Ukrainian until I met Tamara. She taught me how to sing in her bedroom. ", said Asiah.
"Another person joined and then suddenly we were performing at St. Michael's Church [of Market Place] and from there we kept getting invited to sing at more places.
The event took place just days after Russian forces blew up Ukraine's Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.
"We have members of the choir who are from the same region as the explosion of the dam," Tamara also said.
"And they were very upset by it. But many said during the summer solstice event that it helped them feel much better.
"Somebody was crying every night but when she came to this performance she was able to enjoy being out with beautiful nature.
"As well as traditions and singing, we want to preserve things like traditional dolls and food. Particularly for the younger generation, a lot of these traditions were lost with the Russification of the country."
Just days after the summer solstice festivities, the choir performed at last Sunday's Treacle Market.
The new choir will aim to perform every month at the Treacle Market, which helps with their visibility to recruit new singers.
They will also hope to put on a traditional Ukrainian Christmas concert this winter.
"The singing is called polyphony singing, which is a style of singing from Ukraine, the Balkans and parts of Italy", said Natalya Jaddock a Ukrainian-Canadian also living in Macclesfield.
"It is a very bold style of singing. We sing ancient songs from various regions of Ukraine, in a different voice than the regular head voice singing voice. It is a more natural singing voice, when Ukrainians would work in their fields they would have to sing in a way where their voice would really have to carry.
"This type of singing really lets your voice carry in the song. I've never really been able to sing in my life, but in this voice I could actually do it.
"What we sing is the music of the people. It is singing you can do at the dinner table with family, with friends. There's no pressure to it. You do it to celebrate each others company and it is a very special thing for me."
The Wincle get-together was a mixture of Ukrainians who fled the country in recent months, and Ukrainians who were already living in Macclesfield before the invasion. (As well as their hosts and friends of the Ukrainian community)
Tamara's grandson Alex, who also went to the Wincle celebrations added" "I'm really proud. It is interesting for me."
"In our lives in Ukraine, I didn't really honour the traditions we just lived our everyday modern lives. So it has been great to learn about them."
Tamara expressed deep gratitude to Macclesfield for the warmth and kindness received since they fled Ukraine's capital.
"The tragedy for my family started before the war as another person in our family was really ill, and needed to move to another country for specialist treatment," she stated.
"So we were already choosing to move to either Britain or the USA, and then the war started, so we managed to get to Poland. And then we waited for eight months in Poland to get a visa and move to Britain.
"Macclesfield people are so lovely, inspiring and so open to us. We have found that true for the whole nation. Everyone here has been amazing.
"We live on a hill here, and love that we can see a view of the town while being with nature."
The choir - called Dzhyva - will hope to get a social media presence going soon to attract new performers.
See Also: UP CLOSE with One Project Ukraine Macclesfield's Jeanette Rice
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