Midsummer’s Night (Kupal’lje), Chars’ts’vjady 2006. Купальле, Чарсьцьвяды 2006 год.
Midsummer’s night is celebrated in many places in Europe between the summer solstice and St. John’s Day (June 24). Belarusians call the celebration Kupal’lje in honor of John the Baptist. Some in Belarus mark the celebration according to the Julian calendar, thus the night of 6-7 July. Early in the evening women and girls gather wild flowers and weave garlands which they toss into a nearby body of water or wear as they dance around a bonfire lit at dusk. People often jump over the embers of the bonfire.
I took this photo June 22, 2006 on the island of Chars’ts’vjady in the lake region south of Polatsak. The photo of the garlanded girl in this web site’s banner comes from the same evening.
