Ivana Kupala 2009

A good Kupala night.

A thought that occurred to me in that particular summer, when money was short everywhere: this festival costs nothing.

It requires a river or a lake, some wood, and people willing to be outdoors after dark. No tickets, no venue, no catering, no purchase of any kind is structurally necessary. A group of people with nothing can hold a complete and correct Kupala.

Very few celebrations have that property. Most of ours have quietly become occasions for spending, and they exclude whoever cannot. This one predates that idea entirely and has never adopted it.

Fire, water, the shortest night. Free to all comers.