Tradition of Generous Evening added to list of Ukraine’s cultural heritage

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine added "Traditions of Generous Evening in Ukraine" to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Ukraine, reports the Culture Ministry press service.

Earlier, the Ministry had already included 88 items in the National List, including those related to the New Year's celebration cycle, namely: the traditional Malanka rite from the village of Beleluya, Ivano-Frankivsk region, the tradition of greeting Vasyls in the village of Lypivka in the Rogatyn territorial community of the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the creation of a three-dimensional spherical Christmas star of the village of Matskovychi, etc.

"The tradition of generosity is alive: it has gone through difficult trials in our history and survived thanks to its bearers, thanks to those who popularized it at different times. At the same time, we have thousands of examples of national cultural heritage inspiring artists to create contemporary works with ethnic motifs. One of the most striking manifestations of this is Mykola Leontovych's ‘Shchedryk,’" noted Rostyslav Karandieiev, the Acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

"The tradition of Generous Evening of Ukraine takes place in the form of the so-called New Year's rounds. The tradition has a long history, going back to pre-Christian times, and contains 12 ritual dishes, customs to prepare for the Generous Evening and dressing up: "to drive a goat", Malanka, carolling. And here the world-famous work ‘Shchedryk’ is important," said Marina Sobotiuk, a researcher of Ukrainian cultural traditions.

The Ministry of Culture plans to include "Shchedryk" in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Ministry is already developing a global promotional campaign to present the Generous Evening traditions abroad.

As reported, in 2017, a UOC priest launched a flash mob Shchedryk100challenge to perform the famous carol.