Ukrainian Christmas Carol Concert

Albeit a smaller city, the festive mood and celebratory spirits are as large as anywhere else. One part of the Ukrainian Celebrations I mentioned was this concert - A very humble gathering of people to enjoy the beautiful carols of a very beautiful occasion. There were three groups in total, with two of them being Ukrainian. The local Dutch group came with the venue, so the event, in its entirety, was mostly the "Ukrainian Christmas Carol Concert" as we had advertised.

The entry was free for anyone interested, and the church was more than happy to host us. This marks the second church that I have had an event executed in. The fundraising concert was in a massive and epic church, nonetheless, this is just as beautiful, especially with much fewer resources and a smaller team.

The Ukrainian choir and the "Ukrainian Opera" have been in the Netherlands for a few years now and have been headed by a Ukrainian who has lived in the Netherlands for many years. The group has now become bigger and has found a new purpose by adding Ukrainian refugees to their strength. You can see the traditional Ukrainian Vyshyvanka has also become part of the identity.

It was such a powerful collection of performances. Each carol was prefaced with a story and a small speech about its history and importance. It was a unique opportunity to teach locals about Ukrainian customs as well as bring many up to speed with the ongoing struggle.

The turnout was more than I expected. I had lowballed and estimated 40-60 people including Ukrainians because of how short this unique concert would be and because of the limited advertising. We reached over 125 in headcount. This means it is highly possible to replicate this event in the future.
We had also set up a live telecast and made full video recordings. Since both groups are professionals with lots of experience, there was little for me and the team to direct. Most of the work was putting it together and making sure schedules matched. I think the most time was spent on figuring out how would we bring people to this event since the target audience is both Ukrainians and locals. In retrospect, most of my time went into designing flyers, layouts, and advertising channels. So safe to say, I got to enjoy the concert on the day of, instead of running around.

The "O Holy Night" was performed by Olya, and it was also a commemoration of her sister who had just passed away. It was really emotional and Olya has a beautiful voice which really shook me. In the one hour, the Ukrainians performed for almost the entirety, almost 40 minutes, the rest was for the local group and the other arbitrary processes.
Along with enjoying the carols, everyone was welcome to read the translation of the carols beamed by a projector and also sing along with the help of Ukrainian lyrics.

After the concert, we had a social time where everyone could grab a coffee or tea. Along with that were traditional Christmas treats like Christmas bread - Kerstbrood, with and without butter, Ukrainian Kolach and Medyvnik. We also had prepared some Ukrainian Kampot, a crowd favorite which ran out pretty quick.

The best part was the mood and smiling faces, along with the people who took the initiative to help out during snack time. Above you can also see Ivan, in the green white and black sweater behind the table. This is the Ivan who I had written about in the past who I had helped with his medical problems. He is very healthy now and even has a job and a girlfriend, and as much of a normal life as possible. But most importantly, he is now healthy and also tags along to help whenever and wherever possible.

During this time a lot of locals and Ukrainians started mingling and talking to each other. Even with the language barrier, many found hearty conversations through the help of translator apps or people who speak at least English. Of course, I have to blur some of the Ukrainians' faces out, and hopefully, you understand why.

This is the small team that has been working tirelessly and from their heart to make the two events come together nicely. For the next part of the event, we have some more people in the team and hopefully, we will have one more successful event followed by a team picture with all of them.

Many many glad greetings of the holidays!

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