Kupala Night

Kupala Night
Ivan Kupala. Fortunetelling on the wreaths, by Simon Kozhin, 2009
Also called	Kupala's Night, Kupala
Observed by	Slavs
Significance	celebration relates to the summer solstice
Date	June 21–22 or 23–24 (Poles and Ukrainians) July 6–7 (Belarusians and Russians)
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Summer Solstice, Saint John's Eve, Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Kupala Night (also Kupala's Night or just Kupala; Polish: Noc Kupały, Belarusian: Kupalle, Russian: Ivan Kupala, Kupala, Ukrainian: Ivan Kupalo) is one of the major folk holidays^[1] in some of the Slavic countries^[2] that coincides with the Christian feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist^[1] and the East Slavic feast of Saint John's Eve. In folk tradition, it was revered as the day of the summer solstice^[1][2] and was originally celebrated on the shortest night of the year, which is on 21-22^[3][4] or 23-24^[2] of June {Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria (where it is called Enyovden), and Ukraine (since 2023),^[5] and according to Julian calendar on the night between 6 and 7 July (Belarus, and Russia). The name of the holiday is ultimately derived from the East Slavic word kǫpati "to bathe".

A number of activities and rituals are associated with Kupala Night, such as gathering herbs and flowers and decorating people, animals, and houses with them; entering water, bathing, or dousing with water and sending garlands on water; lighting fires, dancing, singing, and jumping over fire; and hunting witches and scaring them away. It was also believed that on this day the sun plays and other wonders of nature happen.^[1] The celebrations are held near the water, on the hills, surrounding that^{[clarification needed]}; chiefly, young men and women participate in these folkloric traditions.^[2] The rituals and symbolism of the holiday may point to its pre-Christian origins.