Band to celebrate Ukrainian new year celebration in St. John’s

The Kubasonics will host Malanka, a Ukrainian New Year celebration, in downtown St. John’s on Jan. 26.

A wall of posters of the different events and tours by The Kubasonics in Brian Cherwick's home.
Posters of different events and tours by the Kubasonics fill a wall at band leader Brian Cherwick’s home. The band will host a Ukrainian new year celebration at the Ship Pub on Jan. 26. Max Baco/Kicker

Max Baco
Kicker

Malanka is a Ukrainian New Year celebration that’s much like mummering. With costumes, snacks, dancing and music, this Ukrainian holiday is brought to town by the Kubasonics.

It’s similarities to mummering lie in the practice of dressing up in costumes and masks, going house to house bringing joy and fun, and celebrating with lively music. 

As with all cultures, these two holidays have their differences. During Malanka, it is customary to perform plays that highlight the welcoming of a new and prosperous year, leaving behind the old year, which is symbolized by a sick goat.

“People can expect us to play unusual [Ukrainian] music with interesting folk instruments,” said Brian Cherwick, leader of the band.

Brian Cherwick of The Kubasonics playing one the folk instruments that the band uses in front of his other folk instruments.
Brian Cherwick of the Kubasonics plays a tsymbaly, a Ukrainian version of a hammer dulcimer. Such traditional instruments will feature prominently in the band’s upcoming Malanka celebration. Max Baco/Kicker

This year’s Malanka will be the ninth celebration held here in St. John’s. The venue varies every year; this time, it will be held in the Ship Pub on Jan. 26. The event will feature the band’s own music, seasonal Ukrainian winter songs, and snacks and decorations.

Traditionally, Malanka is celebrated on Jan. 13, which falls on New Year’s Eve in accordance with the Julian Calendar. But because of the band members’ different schedules, the event will be held later in the month to accommodate the band’s availability. 

Serhii Koval, a Ukrainian PhD student and math teacher at Memorial University, has been in Newfoundland since December 2021. He is pleased that this Ukrainian tradition is practised in this part of the world too.

“It brings diversity to Canada,” said Koval, who is from Central Ukraine.

Many Ukrainian events – such as Ukraine’s Independence Day – are held by different hosts in St. John’s. But Malanka has always been hosted and organized by the Kubasonics.

The band hosts this event for the community and the people of St. John’s to enjoy. However, since the war between Ukraine and Russia began, the band started to set aside money that they earn from the tickets they sell to aid artists in Ukraine through the Aid for Artists Foundation.

“One of the reasons we do this is to keep Ukrainian art alive and flourishing,” Cherwick said.

For Cherwick, it is important to keep celebrating Malanka so that the Ukrainian community in St. John’s knows that their tradition still exists even when they are far from their motherland.

“It’s important for Ukrainians to feel at home.”

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