The celebration of Malanka is a Ukrainian folk holiday taking place on or around January 13th, which is New Year’s Eve in accordance with the Julian calendar. Malanka also commemorates the feast day of St. Melaniya that falls on the 13th of January for Orthodox Christians. The 14th is the feast day of Vasyl (Basil) the Great, one of the Churches forefathers. The Malanka celebration serves as a bridge between the old and new religious traditions.To keep the tradition alive in the diaspora Ukrainian organisations have created events at banquet halls to help celebrate Malanka. These events typically occur a week after Christmas. This gathers the whole community and allows everyone to enjoy themselves while honoring their cultural background. People come to these events ready to socialise and celebrate the New Year with family and friends. The event provides a nice dinner with raffles and prizes to be won and ends with a zabava. At midnight, once everyone cheers for the New Year, individual and pair polka dancing is stopped and the kolomyjka begins.

Please come and join us and celebrate in traditional Ukrainian style.