St. Andrew's Eve  party

St. Andrew's Party is celebrated on December thirteenth. It is common for young men
and women to partake in match-making during this time. In fact, youth celebrations
begin earlier on the seventh of December, St. Catherine's Day. These ceremonies are
usually associated with parties and girls' divination of whom they will marry. Each village
had a special house for such parties. The evening began with the boys' story-telling and
ended after midnight. Everyone had to stay awake until midnight, so the boys told jokes
to ensure that no one fell asleep.
Students of the Ukrainian program at the University of Toronto also organized a
St. Andrew's party, where they sang, practiced fortune-telling and laughed plenty.
Listen to them sing "Red Rue" at their party.
The song "Red Rue" is named after a flower. According to an ancient legend, if a
girl finds this flower when it blooms, she will soon find her love. The composer of this
song, Volodymyr Ivasyuk, wrote "Red Rue" in 1970 and was met with instant success.
All his songs are about Ukrainian culture and traditions. The Soviet authorities were
obviously quite displeased with this. Unsurprisingly, when his hanged body was found in
the woods in 1979, people suspected that the cause of death was not suicide. The song
"Red Rue" has become iconic for Ukrainians; it is always sung wherever Ukrainians
gather together.