UKRAINE: East European hippies converge upon the Carpathian Mountains to commune with nature at an annual festival

Record ID: 829671

  • Title: UKRAINE: East European hippies converge upon the Carpathian Mountains to commune with nature at an annual festival
  • Date: 14th July 2010
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF FAMILY OF HIPPIES SITTING AROUND FIRE (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) HIPPY, MIROSLAVA REKHTAR, SAYING: "I heard a story about this musician from Shipot who travelled all over the place searching for the universal musical instrument, which when played, it would express everything going on in the world. And he found this instrument, it was a magic waterfall which told stories and legends -- it's possible that's why people came here -- this is a magical place and that's why people come here." VARIOUS OF MIROSLAVA REKHTAR'S DAUGHTER WITH FLOWERS IN HER HAND
  • Embargoed: 29th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA5F3Y9YFS6NM4TV7KIMX9NLVQM
  • Story Text: About 3,000 self-confessed hippies of all ages have made the journey to Shipot in west Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains, the traditional gathering point for an annual hippy meet, to embrace their alternative lifestyle this week.
    They came from Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Austria and the Baltic countries.
    The hippies set up camp in their tents, dotted across the hills and valley for the festival, which started last week and lasts between 10 days to two weeks, depending on how long participants want to hang out there.
    In the Carpathian Valley near the Shipot waterfall, for two weeks at least, everyone welcomes everyone else to their camp fire and shares their food and drink.
    Participants said nothing is forbidden in the valley -- except violence.
    Today's hippies may have to travel a long way to an organised festival, where they pitch modern tents, which may not look out of place for some, but for Oles Onufriff, it gives him freedom from the restraints of modern urban life.
    "I like it here. Here a person can feel free of city rules -- you have to be properly dressed, don't get dirty . Everyone can do what they like here, we're getting close to nature. It's not the same as people leaving town and going out for a barbecue, that's not what I'm talking about. Here we have maximum relaxation, we feel at one with nature," he said, sheltering with his girlfriend and their Dachsund dog under plastic sheeting, eating condensed milk out of a tin, as their camp fire spluttered.
    Meanwhile, Ukrainian hippy Miroslava Rekhtar and her family pitched camp in the woods. For her, the gathering has a more romantic character, with echoes of a mythic musical quest.
    "I heard a story about this musician from Shipot who travelled all over the place searching for the universal musical instrument, which when played, it would express everything going on in the world. And he found this instrument, it was a magic waterfall which told stories and legends -- it's possible that's why people came here -- this is a magical place and that's why people come here," she said.
    Until the early 1990s in the countries of the Soviet bloc anyone who looked like a hippy faced discrimination in the workplace and difficulties entering colleges and universities for higher education.
    Hippy Pavel Propoved is too young to remember how hard it was in the old days, but he paid tribute to a true underground tradition.
    "Hippies were followed in the Soviet Union. Well, before anyone could be investigated for not working -- parasitism. For anyone out of the ordinary, for any subculture, anyone creative, they hung out as it was hard to get a job. Now it's possible to live like this, to live as you choose, and no one will pay any attention to you -- that's democracy," he said.
    The hippy lifestyle was a true subculture and these pioneering hippies of the Soviet era could only have dreamed of a gathering like the Carpathian Mountains festival. They might have organised something similar but it would have had to have been done on a much smaller scale and in secret.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Video restrictions: parts of this video may require additional clearances. Please see ‘Business Notes’ for more information.
Register