On October 5, 2019, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Lebanese Republic, the Municipality of Douma, Ukrainian Community in Lebanon and Ukrainian Cultural Center in Byblos were launching the Second Ukrainian Festival in Douma, the mountain town of Lebanon.

The event was aimed to present Ukrainian culture, cuisine, artisan works in Lebanon and to acquaint local population with national traditions. The Festival was visited by the city leadership, members of the local council, representatives of the clergy, Ukrainian community, representatives of Lebanese business and cultural circles, guests of the town, diplomatic corps of Ukrainian Embassy.The Festival had a tremendous success. Events of the Festival were covered by the Lebanese TV channel “Télé Liban”.

The program of the Festival included various cultural activities. The Festival started from the cooking show with the participation of Chef Antoine (Télé Liban) and the Ambassador of Ukraine in Lebanon Mr. I.Ostash who cooked borsch, the traditional Ukrainian dish. All the participants of the Festival enjoyed Ukrainian cuisine that also included other traditional dishes: varenyky (Ukrainian dumplings), holubtsi (cabbage rolls), mlyntsi (pancakes) and other dishes of Ukrainian mistresses.

Guests of the event got acquainted with Ukrainian artisan works and Art exhibition “Douma* about Douma” (*Ukrainian epic saga) by Ukrainian painters Oleksandr Melnyk, Oles Solovei and Vasyl Korchynskyi. Ukrainian artists painted picturesque places of Douma, their works were gifted by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Douma Municipality.  

During the Festival guests had a possibility to deep into the world of Ukrainian songs performed by Ukrainian folk band Onuky.

The Ambassador of Ukraine presented certificates to graduates of Ukrainian language and art courses (icon painting and cross stitch) held in the Ukrainian House in Douma by our teachers Victoriia Markova, Ruslan Sokolov and Liudmila Novikova.

The main event of the Festival was the -concert of Ukrainian singer Viktoriya Vasalati (“Ukrainian Édith Piaf”) who performed Ukrainian compositions and well-known French songs.