Kupala Night in Dubicze Cerkiewne

A procession of women in white dresses with lanterns passes through a green meadow by the river.

The women walk barefoot, passing a huge bonfire on the bank. At their head goes a boy carrying a freshly cut small birch tree. The procession enters the river, surrounded by the chants carrying around. Women circle around the tree wading in the water. In their hands they have garlands woven from flowers, which they will place on the river in a moment. Whoever catches them before they fall into the coastal reeds is said to be lucky in love. The warm summer night smells of meadow and forest. Suddenly a dozen young boys run into the water in pursuit of garlands.

Kupala Night is the most important festival of pagan Europe, still alive today especially in its eastern part. For centuries fought by the Church, over time it was combined with the person of John the Baptist and accepted as a freak of popular imagination. In most countries it coincides with the shortest night of the year, being known as Mittsomerfest, but among some residents of the Podlasie region it is also celebrated according to the Orthodox calendar, that is, a few weeks later.

The lavish Kupala Night celebrations are held every year on the first Saturday after July 12 in a meadow next to the river in the village of Dubicze Cerkiewne and several other towns in the region. Bands playing traditional music from Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, as well as a large number of local residents, especially local Ukrainians, come together for the event. There are demonstrations of traditional handicrafts, you can eat and drink well. And above all – feel the spirit of the ancient festival of life, the patron of which, despite centuries of pressure from Christian religion and culture, is still Kupala – the old Slavic deity of fertility.

Kupala Night in Dubicze Cerkiewne is not only a mysterious exotic ritual, which will delight fans of the film Midsommar, but above all an unforgettable evening in which the spirit of Podlasie – a multicultural land at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe – is expressed.

More about Kupala Night celebrations in Poland