Beware – holidays are coming to the city

ng weekend is approaching in Kyiv – the Independence Day on Aug. 24 happens to be on Sunday this year, and as a result Monday becomes an extra day off.

When a national holiday the scale of Independence Day comes, it brings lots of options for entertainment, so that all you have to do is join in. However, the massive celebration has its disadvantages.

Being the capital, Kyiv is a favorite weekend hangout for people from the rest of the country, and an absolute must for any big national holiday. Considering an extra day off, it’s inevitable that outoftowners will take the city by storm. And please don’t take me wrong – I have nothing against fellow Ukrainians. However, when some Ukrainians youngsters, with their recklessabandon style of partying, gather in large numbers in the city’s central streets, I prefer to stay away.

I confess having a fear of massive celebrations. Some years back, on another Independence Day, I found myself downtown in late afternoon. I had to meet somebody on European Square and as soon as I got out of the metro at Maidan, I was shocked to find myself in a sea of people! I started feeling almost claustrophobic, and was close to panicking, as I pushed my way through the crowd little by little towards the square. So now, I avoid any massive public gatherings in the city center, unless it’s a carefully organized event, like the recent Paul McCartney concert. Besides, it’s not all about numbers– it’s the behavior of certain drunken individuals who can start bothering you at any given moment, start an unexpected fight or throw glass bottles around.

So what else can you do to celebrate? For instance go to another city – but tickets might be scarce and expensive during the festive days. You can also have a picnic, but all popular picnic areas in town will of course be packed. So it’s either a dinner and a movie at home, or escape to the country…

However I’m not trying to scare you away from massive Kyivstyle partying – it might be fun and exciting, or at least exotic if you’ve never seen it before.