From Rusaľ to Jan in Poland

On July 25th – 26th, 2009 at the Museum of Lemko Culture in the Rusyn village of Zyndranova (Poland), an annual celebration of Lemko culture entitled “From Rusaľ to Jan” took place. On the first day, participants lay flowers of respect at commemorative places, then visited an exposition at the museum and, finally, met at an evening bonfire. The second day started with Holy Liturgy, followed by the main programme – performances by the following local folk groups: “Lemkivskij perstenyk“ from Gladyšov, “Terka“ from Vilchovec, “Vylšňja", „Rogowice" from Rogow, “Oslavjany" from Mokré, “Vidymo" from Sanok, as well as performances by the following guest groups: “Na drabyni" from the Ukraine, “Ton” from Medzilaborce and “Makovica” from Svidník in Slovakia. During the celebration, the audience could visit an exposition at the museum, folk crafts and children could enter some interesting competitions. This brought another celebration to an end, which, for decades, has been organised by Teodor Goč, its main organiser and the founder of the Museum of Lemko Culture in Zyndranova, who, on June 28th, 2009 celebrated his 80th birthday.