Ukrainians usually celebrate Easter with their families. Most people attend an Easter service, followed by a meal and long conversations with family. For those who are bored with the traditional holiday fare, restaurants and museums outside of Kyiv offer interesting open air Easter celebrations.
Kyivan Rus Party
This is the best place to dive into ancient Kyivan atmosphere and to find out about Kyivan Rus Easter traditions. The celebrations this year will start on April 19 and will last for three days. At 1 p.m. on April 19 the grand knyaz (prince) and his court will enter the yard and greet the guests with Easter. After that there will be a staged performance about the Easter egg’s birth. Horsemen will demonstrate their breathtaking tricks and will arrange an archery tournament. Besides paskas (Easter bread) visitors will be offered medieval dishes such as kulish (millet porridge), boyar’s pottage and Saracen’s porridge.
The Kyivan Rus Park is located in Kopachiv village and is open daily from 10 a.m. till 8 p.m. To get there you can take a minibus from the Vydubychi metro station to Kopachiv village. The bus departs there three times a day – at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Ticket price for entering the park territory is Hr 100 for adults, Hr 50 for pensioners and Hr 10 for schoolchildren.
Mamayeva Sloboda: a Cossack village
The main Easter celebrations will be held on April 21. The open air museum invites young people to celebrate Wet Monday according to Ukrainian tradition. Young men will pour cold pure water on girls. Presenting pysankas (Easter painted egg) in response means the couple likes each other.
Mamayeva Sloboda is located on 2 Mykhayla Dontsya St. and is open daily from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. To get there you can take a trolleybus from Petrivka metro station or minibus number 201 or 232 from Shulyavska metro station to Mykhayla Dontsya Steet bus stop. Entrance ticket price is Hr 50 for adults, Hr 25 for schoolchildren.
The National Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life Pyrohovo
The main celebrations will be on Wet Monday. At 11:30 p.m. the museum invites everyone to come and listen to children singing vesnyanky and haivky, which are traditional Ukrainian pre-Christian songs performed to welcome spring. At 2 p.m. the youngsters will pour water on each other, according to Zakarpattya traditions
The museum is located in Pyrohovo village. To get there you can take trolleybus 11 from Lybidska metro station, a minibus 172 from Druzhby Narodiv metro station, a minibus 496 from Lukyanivska metro station or a minibus 576 from Akademmistechko metro station. Pyrohovo is open every day except Wednesday from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. Entrance ticket price is Hr 30 for adults, Hr 15 for teenagers, and Hr 5 for children.
Khutir Savky Museum
Easter celebrations will start at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 20. The museum plans to reproduce pre-Christian Slavic rituals of welcoming spring. The big motanka doll (traditional homemade fabric doll) will be installed in the middle of the yard. Besides free food and drink, guests will have a chance to attend free of charge workshops on Easter eggs painting and clay figure making.
Khutir Savky is located on 50 Kirova St. in Novi Petrivtsi village, which is north of Kyiv. To get there you can take a minibus 397 from Kyiv’s Taras Shevchenko square to the Chaynyk bus stop. Entrance fee is Hr 220 for adults and Hr 150 for children.
In Kyiv you can buy Easter treats:
At Parfe pastry house, which is located on 23a Narodnoho Opolchennya St., a 500 gram paska costs Hr 60, and a 350 gram paska goes for Hr 42.
Pirogomania is located on 12zh Heroiv Stalinhrada Ave. and offers a wide range of paskas that cost from Hr 35 to Hr 125.
To buy a paska in Khlib’n’Soul bakery, located on 36 Saksahanskoho St., you will have to pay between Hr 85 and Hr 125.
The price for paksas in Wolkonsky confectionery, located on 5-7 Shevchenko bld., ranges from Hr 130 to Hr 320. Lamb shortcake costs Hr 50, and Hare ginger cookies cost Hr 45. To buy chocolate eggs or marzipans you will have to pay Hr 89.5.
In Videnski Bulochky bakery, paskas cost between Hr 40 and Hr 80. To buy a holiday set of a raisin cake, a paska and a lamb sponge cake you will have to pay between Hr 140 and Hr 250.
In Repriza pastry shop, located on 10/5 Petra Sahaydachnoho St., a box of eight yellow and blue chocolate Easter eggs costs Hr 125. Three macarons in the form of Easter eggs cost Hr 89.
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at [email protected]
