The Christmas Star’s final show was held on January 6, and the winners of the competition were announced there. In total, 80 Ukrainian groups and a group from Kazakhstan took part in the event. Creative groups represented the municipalities of the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Ternopil, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblasts.
For the seventh year running, the Sofiivka municipality has been holding a competition of verteps and traditional ritual songs. This year, “Modern Patriotic Christmas-Themed Song” was added to the traditional categories (vocal performance, including solo artists and choral groups, as well as stage performances).
“When we started receiving videos for the competition, we noticed a great number of modern, patriotic and new koliadkas and shchedrivkas [carols]. That is why we set up a separate category. This year, the winners were Taisiia Hryshkovets from the Olevsk municipality, Zhytomyr Oblast, and the following creative groups: Vocaliz, Berizka Preschool, Sofiivka School of Arts and Berehynia from the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast,” said Yuliia Kolibaba, Director of the Sofiivka Creative Centre and a member of the Organising Committee.
The grand prize of the competition was won by the performance of the Tale Of A Real Christmas by the group Dzvinka Khvylia from Pavlodar, Kazakhstan.
“Our participants are incredible. In addition to their creative projects, they actively volunteer and help the Armed Forces of Ukraine: they weave camouflage nets and camouflage suits, bake sweets for defenders, make amulets, trench candles, knit socks, hold charity fairs and constantly make donations. When preparing for participation in our festival, which took place under the tagline “Twinkle, Twinkle Christmas Star — Help AFU Wherever You Are”, the participants donated UAH 93,720,” said Yuliia Kolibaba.
Traditionally, the information partner of the festival is the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Olena Tertyshna, Head of the Regional Office, stated the following:
“The festival inspires young people to get deeper into Ukrainian folk traditions. Every year, we see that the lion’s share of participants are children’s and youth groups that present authentic Christmas performances as well as create a new wave of Ukrainian patriotic carols. And naturally, this year’s festival brought Ukrainians even closer to its wish for peace and victory.”
Here are the winners in different age groups by categories:
Vocal Performance (solo artists)
- Samira Rashydova, Lozova urban municipality, Kharkiv Oblast.
- Krystyna Raditsa, Apostolove municipality, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
- Oksana Svaliavina, Synelnykove municipality, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Vocal Performance (choir groups)
- Axios Vocal Group, Music School No. 4, Kryvyi Rih
- Kraplynka Vocal Group, Bolshivtsi municipality, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.
- Creative Kids Vocal Pop Studio, Sofiivka municipality, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
- Shybaliany Band, Berezhany municipality, Ternopil Oblast.
- Vyzyrka Village Culture Centre, Vyzyrka municipality, Odesa Oblast.
Stage Performance
- Dyvosvit Vocal Group, Pokrovske municipality, Dnipropetrovsk region.
- Maria’s Vertep, Traditional Folk and Ritual Theatre, Pavlohrad municipality, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
- Barvy Group, Cherkasy National University
- Slobozhany Quartet Lozova municipality, Kharkiv Oblast.
- Zdravushka Vocal Group, Sursko-Lytovske municipality, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
- Liubystok Amateur Folk Collective, Lyubimivka municipality, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Modern Patriotic Christmas-Themed Song
- Taisiia Hryshkovets, Olevsk municipality, Zhytomyr Oblast.
- Vocalize Soloist Collective, Mykolaivka municipality, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
- Berizka Preschool Collective, Sofiivka municipality, Dnipropetrovsk region.
- Choir of the Sofiivka School of Arts, Sofiivka municipality, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
- Berehynia Group, Apostolove municipality, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
The Christmas Star competition was first held in 2018 in the village of Sofiivka. In 2021, more than 100 groups joined the festival online, and it was entered into the Book of Records of Ukraine. In 2022, the festival gathered 226 creative groups and 2,635 participants from all over Ukraine and abroad. More than 118,000 viewers from all over Ukraine and 50 other countries watched the online broadcast.