Waiting for holidays

“The magic of a holiday consists of numerous hardly noticeable details – meetings and smiles, the time we spend with our family, the aroma of honey, cinnamon, tangerines, the glitter of New Year’s tree, the echo of Christmas carols,” the organizers of the events are sure. Namely this is the reason why, as they say, they have invited a hundred of best craftspeople from all over Ukraine, as well as publishers and confectioners, musicians and artists.

Most of children stand near the stands with sweets and the doors of Santa Claus fairy residence branch office. Near a small house they can write a letter to the wizard and throw it into a special box, decorate sweets with chocolate, nuts, and candied fruit. There is also a creative studio “Pugovka,” a studio of gingerbread, a factory of notebooks and angels. There are a lot of angels in the Arsenal. They are made of wood, paper, fleece, wool, sackcloth, and even crocheted.

The literature component is present in several halls. Well-known children’s publishing houses have their stand here. Some of them offer freshly printed editions of well-known books.

“Our new book for winter holidays is Christmas in Lviv,” says a librarian from the Lviv Children’s Library and a friend of the Staroho Leva Publishing House Tania Pylypets. “The book tells about vertep festivals, a live nativity scene, which is filled every year by characters in the city’s center, and tells about the Pampukh (Doughnut) Holiday. The collection also includes carols and receipts of traditional Galician winter dishes. But the emotional impressions from Lviv Christmas are prevailing.”

THE DAY AT CHRISTMAS ARSENAL: PRIZE DRAW, HOLIDAY DISCOUNTS, AND NICE LETTERS TO FAMILY

Our stand is a tradition on the Christmas Festival. The Day has prepared a number of surprises. On December 21-22 we are holding a prize draw for those who made a purchase for over 100 hryvnias on The Day’s stand. The prizes include books in the series “Armor-Piercing Political Writing,” a collection of cards “Picture of The Day,” our branded desk calendar with the best works from the Den-2013 Photo Contest, handkerchiefs, photo albums, and other interesting and useful things. Another wonderful action on the newspaper’s stand is “A Nice Letter to Family.” During the event the visitors of the stand can buy an exclusive card from The Day, write greetings on it, and our editorial office will send the card to the mentioned address. And, of course, the series “Armor-Piercing Political Writing” can be purchased at Christmas Arsenal, as well as the full set of Route No. 1 at holiday discount, as well as a gift certificate for friends and family for 250, 300, and 350 hryvnias, which can be later exchanged in the editorial office for the Den’s books, newspaper subscription, etc.

MANY PEOPLE STOP NEAR OUR STAND TO PRAISE ITS STYLISH DESIGN AND RICH CONTENT

HOW BUTTERFLY’S WINGS QUIVER IN THE AIR?

A special event is the acoustic studio of the Big Ear fairytale. Children can read fairytales by Dzvinka Matiiash, and not just read them, but create a fairytale atmosphere with the help of different items and materials, such as paper, foil, glasses, plates, and nuts, i.e., all those things which create noise, rustle, and buzz, create a fairytale-like atmosphere. Children try to reproduce the quivering of butterfly’s wings in the air, the clatter of chelas of insects running on the water clutter, how sparrows clean their beaks, and how cats move their whiskers. All the sounds will be recorded and later become a part of an audio book.

“LAST YEAR WE MANAGED TO GATHER ABOUT 5,000 BOOKS”

The last hall is a venue for a charity exhibit-auction of creative work by children and teenagers with special needs. There are hundreds of pictures, applique works, and embroidries on the wall. Every lot has a number and a starting price. For example, a Merry Butterfly was embroidered with feather stitch by Oleksandr Niketenko, a fosterling from Sviatoshyn Children’s Boarding School in Kyiv. The starting price is 100 hryvnias. A small earthen pot, created by children from Bilohiria children’s home costs the same.

“Our children are not simple, but they are active, intelligent, and creative,” says recreation therapist from Sviatoshyn Children’s Boarding School Iryna Starostina. “Today they will show master classes on embroidery, drawing, and making of snowflakes. They all can tell about their creative work, because they devote much time to it.”

“I can make a star snowflake,” says teenager Oleksandr, creating something from white and orange paper, “I can also embroider an icon with beads. I can do many things: cut, glue, make pictures of dried flowers.”

The money raised will be used for creation of a kind of a daytime “kindergarten,” where disabled children could study and undergo recreation.