As The Day has learned from its organizers, the aim of the festival is to promote revival, preservation, and development of the Ukrainian folk tradition of zabavky-making as well as to popularize traditional folk games and the best examples of folk art, and to attract the masses to the study of folklore.
Let us recall that the Yavoriv zabavky is one of the oldest varieties of Ukrainian toys. This folk handicraft originates from the city of Yavoriv, Lviv region. The first written mention of it dates to the 18th century. Traditionally, the zabavky depict shapes of beasts or birds. Various images of swings and carts are also common. Tradition demands that the toys be decorated with the Yavoriv ornament, that is, pictures of willow branches. Four dyes are traditionally used in coloring them: green (symbolizing the grass and leaves), red (standing for fruits and berries), blue (sky and water), and a fourth dye (the yellow one of the sun) has been used since the early 20th century.
The Yavoriv zabavky (which are not really toys, that is, playthings, since their name comes from the word zabavliaty, meaning “to amuse” in Ukrainian) constitute a unique branch of folk arts and crafts of Ukraine. Our ancestors believed that the Yavoriv zabavky had the power to ward off all evil influences. They do not harm children’s health since they are made of wood and painted with safe aniline dyes, which have replaced vegetable dyes.
Handicraft production of wooden zabavky in Yavoriv saw its heyday in the mid-19th century.
The demand for them is increasing by the year among parents and children alike, and they are growing more competitive vis-a-vis plastic toys from Europe and China.
