You're reading: Events galore for 24th Independence Day

Staying in Kyiv for the three-day Independence Day weekend is a good option. Aug. 24 will be an all-day festival with many events to see and participate. So put on that vyshyvanka and get out there.

 

Parade on
Khreshchatyk

Unlike the
previous year, when a full-scale military parade marched through Khreshchatyk
Street on the Independence Day, this year’s parade is a scaled-down peace
march. Columns of Ukrainian soldiers will march on foot, many on break from the
war front. The march begins at 10 a.m. on Khreshchatyk Street.

Flower
exhibition

A flower
exhibition will open on Aug. 21 in Spivoche Pole (Singing Field) Park near
Kyiv’s Pechersk Lavra. The exhibition will feature flower installations themed
after traditional Ukrainian symbols. Entrance is Hr 25. The exhibition will
last through Sept. 20.

Vyshyvanka
Parade

The
Vyshyvanka Parade is arguably the most vibrant annual tradition. It brings
together hundreds of people from various regions of the country wearing their
best vyshyvankas, embroidered folk shirts. This year the parade will begin at
Kontraktova Square at 12 p.m. Everyone wearing vyshyvanka is invited to join
it. Registration is required at www.vyshyvanka.folkukraine.com/en.

Borscht
festival

Ukraine’s
most famous dish, its trademark red beet soup borscht, will have a separate celebration
on Aug. 24. The Borscht Festival will
take place at VDNKh, the national exposition center in southern Kyiv. Kyiv
restaurants will compete in making the best borscht. Each chef will cook 50
liters of borscht with the public doing the taste-testing. Admission is free.

World
Cuisine Festival

For those
open to new dining experiences, a festival celebrating the cuisines of the
world will take place in Ukrainian House at European Square in Kyiv on Aug.
23-24.

The many
caterers will offer everything from sugar cane lemonade to frog legs. Local
producers will sell Ukrainian-made peanut butter, jams and other groceries.

Those who
will make it up the stairs to the People’s Friendship Arch will find another
food festival there, this one focused on beer and burgers.
Admission is
free.