MAY 21, 2026—Vyshyvanka Day, celebrated on the third Thursday of May, is an international holiday that aims to preserve the Ukrainian folk traditions of creating and wearing ethnic embroidered clothes called vyshyvankas.
It was an idea brought forward in 2006 by a then-student Lesia Vorniuk suggesting that classmates and students choose one day to wear their vyshyvanka shirts. The holiday grew to an all-Ukrainian level and attracted the world and those who support Ukraine. The day of celebration was intentionally set on a weekday and not during the weekend to emphasize that the vyshyvanka is “a component of the life and culture of Ukrainians, and not an ancient artifact.” Vyshyvankas are, along with pysankas (traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs), one of the best-known symbols of Ukrainian culture.
There will be an event held today at the Holodomor Memorial in Wascana Centre at 6:00 p.m.
