Exiled Belarusians Celebrate Slavic Solstice In Vilnius

Exiled Belarusians gather to hear traditional music during an Ivan Kupala celebration that was held in Vilnius on June 29. 

The celebration combines the Orthodox feast of St. John the Baptist with the summer solstice -- the longest day of the year -- drawing on ancient pagan and Slavic traditions.

Participants, some dressed in traditional clothing, dance during the festivities.

For Belarusians, the event, officially held in their country on the night of July 7 and into the morning of July 7, allows them to celebrate a Slavic tradition far from home.

After the disputed 2020 presidential election, which was widely criticized by international observers and opposition groups as fraudulent, Belarus experienced significant unrest, prompting many of its citizens to seek refuge in other countries, such as Lithuania.

A young girl wearing a floral wreath, also known as a chaplet, watches the festivities.

Participants dressed in ethnic costumes walk to the riverside while performing traditional music.

The widespread protests were met with a brutal crackdown by the government of authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, resulting in the arrest of hundreds of opposition figures and activists.

 

Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya took part in the festivities. Many supporters contend that Tsikhanouskaya was the actual winner of the 2020 presidential vote after she ran in place of her husband, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, who was imprisoned in solitary confinement in Belarus.

"Let me thank the organizers for making it possible to feel and participate in Belarusian traditions even while being in another country," Tsikhanouskaya said.

Belarusian human rights activist Alina Nagornaya -- who had to flee Belarus with her husband and two young children --  wears a floral wreath.

During the celebration, women dance and sing around an effigy of the goddess Morena, who is associated with the death and rebirth of nature.

Woman prepare wreaths that will be floated on the Neris River.

 

Two young women wait their turn at the riverside.

According to tradition, the floating flowers are set off by young women, who try to gain insight into the future of their romantic relationships from the way they float.

The rites are related to purification, with both water and fire.

According to tradition, jumping over a bonfire is not only a test of bravery but also a process of purification.

For couples who fail to keep their hands held together as they jump, a separation is foretold for their future.