Ukrainian Holidays - Overview
In total, there are more than 100 public holidays, memorable days, professional holidays in Ukraine. Among all festive and memorable days, 11 days have the official status of non-working days. If the holiday or non-working day coincides with the regular day off, the day off is postponed to the next day after the holiday or non-working day.
Here are the main and most interesting holidays celebrated in Ukraine.
January
January 1 - New Year (non-working day). It is celebrated on the night of December 31 to January 1. Traditionally, most Ukrainians celebrate it with their families. The main New Year tree of Ukraine stands on Independence Square in Kyiv.
January 7 - Orthodox Christmas (non-working day). The Orthodox Church continues to use the Julian calendar, which has a 13 day difference with the Gregorian calendar - the most widely used civil calendar today.
January 22 - Day of Ukrainian Unity. January 22, 1918, the independence of the Ukrainian People’s Republic was proclaimed. January 22, 1919, the Act of the Reunification of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic into a single Ukrainian state was proclaimed.
January 25 - Students’ Day (Tatiana’s Day). The tradition of celebrating Students’ Day has been preserved since the time of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. On this day in 1755, the Moscow University was founded by her decree. Since then, January 25 - the day of the memory of the holy martyr Tatiana - began to be celebrated first as the birthday of the university, and later as a holiday of all students. Saint Tatiana became the patroness of students.
February
February 14 - Valentine’s Day. The tradition to celebrate this international day of romance and romantic love has been established in Ukraine since the early 1990s.
Maslenitsa (Butter Week). The last week before the Great Lent coincided in time with the pagan holiday of the farewell of winter and the meeting of spring, which a lot of peoples of Europe celebrated in the pre-Christian period. Maslenitsa is usually celebrated in the second half of February - early March: February 12-18 in 2018, March 4-10 in 2019, February 24 - March 1 in 2020.
March
March 8 - International Women’s Day (non-working day). Originally it appeared as a day of women’s solidarity in the struggle for emancipation. Today, it remains an important public holiday in Ukraine celebrating womanhood.
March 25 - Day of Security Service of Ukraine. March 25, 1992, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law about the Security Service of Ukraine.
March 27 - World Theater Day.
April
April 1 - April Fools’ Day.
April 12 - Day of Workers of the Rocket and Space Industry of Ukraine. April 12 is also celebrated as the World Day of Aviation and Cosmonautics.
April 17 - Day of Fire Protection in Ukraine.
April 18 - Day of Monuments of History and Culture of Ukraine - a professional holiday of Ukrainian architects and people who are interested in architectural monuments of the country.
Easter (Pascha) (non-working day) - the most important Orthodox holiday. It is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon, coming not earlier than the day of the spring equinox on March 20. April 8 in 2018, April 28 in 2019, April 19 in 2020.
May
May 1 - Labor Day (non-working day). The holiday lost its original political character. For most Ukrainians this day is just an extra day off and the start of the summer gardening season.
May 8 - Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Second World War.
May 9 - Victory Day over Nazism in World War II (non-working day). This memorable day replaced the Soviet holiday of Victory Day celebrated in the USSR and later in Ukraine until 2015.
Second Sunday in May - Mother’s Day - an international holiday in honor of mothers.
Third Saturday of May - Day of Science in Ukraine.
Third Saturday in May - Day of Europe dedicated to Ukraine’s strategic course on European integration.
May 28 - Day of the Border Guard in Ukraine.
June
Pentecost (non-working day) - one of the main Christian holidays celebrated on the 50th day after Easter. May 27 in 2018, June 16 in 2019, June 7 - 2020.
June 1 - International Day for Protection of Children.
June 6 - Day of Journalists in Ukraine.
June 22 - Day of Mourning and Perpetuation of the Memory of War Victims in Ukraine. June 22, 1941, during the Second World War, Germany attacked the Soviet Union.
June 28 - Day of the Constitution of Ukraine (non-working day). June 28, 1996, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the parliament of Ukraine) adopted the Constitution of Ukraine - the first constitution of an independent Ukrainian state.
July
First Sunday in July - Day of Workers of the Sea and River Fleets of Ukraine.
July 7 - Ivan Kupala (Kupala Night) - a national holiday of the Eastern Slavs dedicated to the summer solstice and the peak of the flowering of nature. The night before the feast in its ritual filling surpasses the day of Ivan Kupala. The main entertainment is jumping through the fire.
Second Sunday in July - Day of the Fisherman in Ukraine.
Third Sunday in July - Day of Workers of the Metallurgical and Mining Industry of Ukraine.
July 16 - Day of the Accountant in Ukraine.
July 28 - Day of Baptism of Kievan Rus - Ukraine.
August
Second Sunday in August - Day of the Builder in Ukraine.
August 23 - Day of the National Flag of Ukraine. August 23, 1990, the blue-yellow flag was raised for the first time over the Kyiv city administration.
August 24 - Ukraine’s Independence Day (non-working day). August 24, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR adopted a decree on proclaiming the independence of Ukraine.
Last Saturday of August - Day of Aviation of Ukraine.
Last Sunday in August - Day of the Miner - a professional holiday of workers of the Ukrainian coal industry.
September
September 1 - Knowledge Day - the beginning of the school year in Ukraine.
Second Saturday of September - Day of Ukrainian Cinema.
Second Sunday in September - Day of the Tankman.
September 17 - Day of the Rescuer.
September 21- Day of Peace. All countries are invited to refrain from engaging in hostilities on this day.
September 27 - World Tourism Day.
October
October 1 - Day of the Elderly.
October 14 - Day of the Defender of Ukraine (non-working day). It was established by the decree of the President of Ukraine on October 14, 2014 replacing the Day of the Defender of the Fatherland celebrated on February 23. October 14 is also the Day of Ukrainian Cossacks and considered the day of the founding of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army - the military-political unit of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.
October 28 - Day of Liberation of Ukraine from the Fascist Invaders.
November
November 4 - Day of the Railwayman.
November 9 - Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language.
November 21 - Day of Dignity and Freedom. It is celebrated on the anniversary of the beginning of the Orange Revolution (2004) and the Revolution of Dignity (Euromaidan) (2013-2014).
Fourth Saturday of November - Day of Remembrance of Victims of Holodomors in Ukraine.
December
December 6 - Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. December 6, 1991, the Law of Ukraine “On the Armed Forces of Ukraine” was adopted.
December 14 - Day of Honoring the Participants in the Liquidation of the Consequences of the Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant or simply Day of the Liquidator. December 14, 1986, the construction of a sarcophagus over the destroyed fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was completed.
December 19 - Day of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker - one of the most revered saints in Ukraine.
December 22 - Day of the Power Engineer. December 22 is the day of the winter solstice.
December 25 - Christmas (non-working day). Thus, Ukrainians celebrate Christmas two times a year and have two days off.
