Sankthans and Ivan Kupala

Both holidays come from the same source: the old celebration of midsummer, later tied to St John’s Day in the church calendar. In Norway the evening is about big bonfires along the coast, with villages competing over whose fire is highest. In Ukraine the night is about love and fortune-telling: girls float flower wreaths down the river, couples jump over the fire hand in hand, and in the forest people look for the mythical fern flower. Same fire, same night — different stories.