With the start of summer around the corner, the Amsterdam-based Ukrainian ten-person choir Makivka invites everyone to celebrate Ukrainian Green Week traditions through their upcoming Rusali event, an immersive experience for both local and diaspora audiences in the Netherlands.
In this interview, VATAHA reporter Eugenia Bocancia spoke with Olga Svarga, the choir’s lead, and Maria Malytska, the first soprano, to learn more about their way of transforming Ukrainian traditions into an immersive live music experience.
In addition, you will find out how Makivka sees the purpose of its performance as Ukrainian ambassadors of culture and music. If you are curious about the meaning behind these rituals and what the event will be about, then you are in the right place!
United by Music and Honour
Makivka was founded in 2022, when representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora here in the Netherlands joined forces to recruit fellow Ukrainians and form an ensemble. As its founder Olga told us, she had always nurtured the idea of sharing her love for music, especially Ukrainian music, abroad, but had never found the right moment for it. Without a doubt, 2022 was a transformative year for many artistic pursuits, and this case was no exception. What first started as recruitment for a seasonal Christmas performance gradually evolved further. Maria remembers the first rehearsals as safe, supportive and fun, despite everyone’s worries about singing in harmony for the first time. The debut at Zuiderkerk in Amsterdam was well received and quickly led to more invitations from local communities. After that, Makivka developed into a larger volunteer ensemble with a repertoire focused on authentic Ukrainian polyphony and regional traditions.
Reasons to join the Rusali festival
As both Maria and Olga believe, we can learn many precious lessons from the traditions of our ancestors, especially in contrast to the uncertainty of modern times. The Ukrainian choir focuses on authentic Ukrainian material, including not only beloved winter traditions such as carols, but also spring and summer ritual songs and regional traditions that are more easily forgotten with time, even among Ukrainians.
As spring gives way to summer, Slavic ancestors celebrated the period of Rusali. It is considered to be an ancient Slavic holiday and a commemorative period dedicated to the memory of the dead, starting off from the Whit Sunday/Pentecost celebration in the Orthodox calendar. There is also a name for this period (“Green Holidays”) reflecting the ancient cult of vegetation, as it is customary to decorate homes with greenery during Trinity celebrations. The term “Rusali” comes from the Slavic word “Rusalka,” referring to water spirits such as fairies, nymphs or water demons, which were traditionally honoured during the first week of June to appease them.
“Rusali is not only a concert. It is an experience — a space where these traditions can be felt, not just observed.”
Olga connects Rusali traditions with ancestral remembrance, connection with nature, female social rituals and sisterhood. On top of that, Olga believes that in earlier times singing functioned as a universal therapy and a social practice that helped communities process life events. She therefore sees older traditions as a counterbalance to a technocratic modern world where people risk losing touch with nature and community.
“You can be burned out, depressed, or tired, but then you come together, you start singing, and the harmonies flow through you. It is therapeutic.”
What we found especially touching during the interview is the fact that the Rusali theme is not only about resurrection and rebirth — it is also about sisterhood. The Rusali theme connects ancient female rituals and “kumuvannia” (godparenthood in English) with the ensemble’s own bond as a musical family. As Maria pointed out, it is also about rediscovering the long-lost feeling of connection with people around us.
“For me, it is also about sisterhood: people bound by shared belief and willing to put their time and effort into making this grow,” Maria says when answering the question about the uniqueness of these summer festivities. Both artists also see it as one of the ways to heal the audience and make them feel at home during their performances.
“We convert Ukrainian culture into something tangible: help.”
Preserving Ukrainian Identity
You may have heard about them before, even from Dutch news broadcasters, such as when the choir performed for Dutch children through a Dutch children’s TV programme, singing a Ukrainian spring song, or when they performed several times at Dam Square in Amsterdam during Ukrainian Independence Day celebrations and anniversaries of the full-scale invasion.
The key motivation of Makivka singers is not only to sing together for a feeling of home abroad, but also to represent Ukrainian culture authentically and free from post-Soviet framing. They see it as a way to “claim what is ours” — something that serves as living evidence of a culture that survived oppression, forced appropriation and colonial pressure. Olga and Maria frame knowledge of Ukrainian traditions as a remedy against the Ukrainian inferiority complex produced by centuries of russian domination and cultural belittlement.
What makes Makivka performances even more unique is the fact that Olga’s inspiration for the choir’s repertoire stems not only from her musical experience from childhood, but is also based on meticulous, in-depth research into ethnographic and ethnological sources. Instead of forcing trends or incorporating over-processed materials, they are trying to restore original melodies, while Olga also writes custom arrangements that do not diminish but rather further emphasise the beauty of forgotten verses. Makivka deliberately performs songs from different Ukrainian regions to emphasise the unity and diversity of Ukraine, rather than selecting certain “favourites.”
“If we are not there claiming it as ours, performing it, and showing that this culture is Ukrainian, it can end up as one more trophy on someone else’s shelf.”
Immersive Ukrainian Ritual Experience in Amsterdam
If you want to not just join one of Makivka’s concerts, but also gain unique access to an immersive cultural experience centred around Green Week, ancestral memory, sisterhood, ritual singing and the transition from spring to summer, feel free to join on 6 June 2026 at 18:00. Apart from experiencing an outstanding musical performance, you will be guided through the concert programme with a storyline, accompanied by elegant costumes and carefully curated arrangements refined through hours of practice. The event will include songs centred on social practices, ancestral memory and female rituals, while also involving the audience in authentic ritual elements.
Makivka presents this event as unprecedented in scale in the Netherlands for Ukrainian Green Week/Rusali traditions. Make sure to be among the lucky ones who get to experience it for the first time!
“Rusali is connected to ancestral memory, social practices, and sisterhood — things that still matter today.”
The event is open to everyone, especially younger audiences who may have never heard of these traditions before, offering a chance to connect and network in the wonderful venue of Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam. To guarantee your spot, please register for free through this link.
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This event is created in partnership with Makivka, Tolhuistuin, VATAHA Foundation and Stichting Oekraïense Club Zaandam.