National Rusyn Day in Serbia

Anually, from the time of its establishment by the World Rusyn Congress, the National Day of Rusyn in Serbia is celebrated on 17th January. This year the main celebrations for Rusyns, mainly from Vojvodina, will take place on Saturday 14 January 2017 in Bikic Dola, Syd and Bersakov where the National Council of the Rusyn National Minority, the Society of the Culture of Rusyns from Vojvodina and the Organizational Committee of the main celebrations invite for the whole-day celebrations.

The programme, which starts from 3.30 PM, will include cultural events aiming for promotion and supporting of Rusyn nationality in Serbia. Firstly, in the primary school a book promotion will take place, a book about Rusyns in Bikic Dola, then from 5PM in the local Greek Catholic church of Dormition of the Mother of God a Holy Mass will be served. There will be also two exhibitions. The first of them will take place in Bikic Dola – an exhibition by Marianna Barna and Olgica Lukach, as well as Ethno-table. Opening of the second of them will take place at 7.15PM in the Library of Symeon Pyshchevych in Syd, it will be an exhibition of works by Angelika Antychevich and Dragica Zhyvkovich Leli. At 8PM, a great feast performance with participation of artists will take place in Syd. The last event of the day will be a late supper in Dalas restaurant in Berkasov.

The World Rusyn Congress in 2007 adopted an idea that each of the membership countries where Rusyns live establish one day in a year to celebrate it as a memory day. Poland celebrated this day a month ago, on 5th December 2016, for the memory of the meeting in Florynka that initiated the Lemko Rusyn Republic. Rusyns in Slovakia celebrate this day on 12 June, in Ukraine on 24 April, in the USA on 26 October, in Croatia on 23 May and in Serbia on 17 January. The dates commemorate important events from the history of Rusyn nationality in some membership countries of the World Rusyn Congress.

The Rusyn Day in Serbia is set for the day of 17 January for the memory of a day when in 1751 a solicitor Maria Teresa and an administrator of the Karolivsk-State Bacsk District in Zombor Franz Josef de Redl signed the first official document – a Contract on resettlement of 200 Rusyn Greek Catholic families from Zemlin to the contemporaneous Velki Krstur. The day is considered to be the beginning of Rusyns’ existence in the territory. The Rusyn Day in Serbia was celebrated for the first time in 2008.