“BoyE” Festival

The “BoyE” Festival was launched by the Tustan Reserve. It took place for the first time in October 2019, on the feast of the Intercession and Ukraine Defender Day.

Urych is a Boyko village with local culture and architecture still preserved. And “BoyE” is an opportunity to bring the Boyko traditions to recollection. The festival events take place on the territory of the cultural center “Chata u Hlubokim”.

“BoyE” reveals the little-known Boyko culture and local heritage, immersing the visitor in an authentic atmosphere. Visitors can enjoy performances of music bands from the surrounding villages with folk music, singing and dancing, artisans offer workshops in folk crafts, and you can also taste local cuisine and attend lectures. Local rituals, such as weddings and Vechornytsi, Ukrainian traditional parties, are also recreated at the festival.

“BoyE” is a family festival where entertainment is offered for adults and children alike: kids can learn to create souvenirs and participate in fun activities on the children’s lawn.

Along with researching, preserving, and promoting the fortress, Tustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve aims to cultivate the rich Boyko heritage of Urych. Expanding the sphere of cultural heritage from the medieval Tustan fortress to a traditional Boyko village, the festival draws attention to local history and ethnography and creates a unique cultural hearth, an open-air museum to attract everyone interested in the history of their homeland.

The festival is arranged as part of the project “The World of Carpathian Rosettes”, a series of events on preserving the uniqueness of Carpathian culture with the assistance of the CBC Program Poland-Belarus-Ukraine, the “Small towns – great impressions” project initiated by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, and with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The festival is designed to promote the regional and national traditions that constitute an integral part of the Ukrainian genetic code.