Let’s talk about Belarusian cusoms and traditions

“So many countries, so many customs”, - an English proverb says. The combination of the words tradition & custom means a usual manner of doing something, of conduct passed on from generation to generation.

People in Belarus celebrate May Day, Victory Day, Independence Day, Christmas, Easter, Kupalle, Kalyady, Maslenitsa and other holidays.

Kupalle is one of the most poetic, and mysterious holidays in Belarus. The tradition is very old. There are a lot of traditional rituals, believes, love and magic. In ancient times Kupalle was celebrated in the night from the 6th to the 7th of July. On Kupalle Eve girls collect different plants - cornflower, fens and some others. The central part of Kupalle celebration is bonfire. During the celebration young people jumped through the fire, bathed in the river and danced. People believe that in the Kupalle night the fern glowing in the dark, and if you find "paparats-kvetka" you'll live happily. But no one has found it yet.

Maslenitsa is a ceremony at the junction of two seasons; it sees off winter and meets spring. Popular festivals of folk music, dancing and national costumes are organized at the time of Maslenitsa.

Orthodox Christmas comes a week after the New Year and this week in Belarus is called Kalyady. During the celebrations groups of young boys and girls in smart clothes go from house to house, sing carols or limericks, or just cheer up people.

I love all kinds of holidays but most of all I admire the national traditions connected with them. My best loved holidays are New Year with a New Year tree, Christmas with plenty of delicious food to eat and Easter with red eggs and an Easter pie.

I am proud of our national traditions, they are unique and make us feel a little bit different from other nationalities. For example, the celebration of “Kupalle” is romantic and mysterious .When we celebrate Victory Day I feel proud of our people who went through great difficulties and showed courage and heroism. Traditions are a part of our culture, so we should carefully observe them to respect our ancestors and feel that we are a nation.