A piece of Ukrainian history stretching longer than a football field is crossing the Atlantic for the first time, and its first Canadian destination is not Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa. It is Carleton Place.
On Sunday, Sept. 13, Carleton Place will become the first community in Canada, and the first in North America, to host the Rushnyk of Unity – Rushnyk of Victory, a 160.5-metre embroidered cloth created by Ukrainian communities across 13 European countries.
Traditionally, a rushnyk was embroidered by mothers and grandmothers for their own family, a deeply personal symbol of kinship and belonging. This rushnyk carries that tradition further, embracing the idea that solidarity can make people one family when they stand together against aggression.
The remarkable piece will be displayed during UA FESTs, also known as Ukrainian Fest Lanark County, at Riverside Park, marking the first time it has been shown outside Europe.
Carleton Place is the first stop thanks to a longstanding friendship between UA FEST organizer Olga Ialovenko and project founder Andrii Yatsenko.
Ialovenko, a Rotarian for 17 years, said she and Yatsenko have been friends for many years through Rotary. Yatsenko now lives in Estonia.
Made up of more than 100 individual embroidered panels, the rushnyk has been stitched by families, churches, schools and organizations supporting Ukraine, as well as Ukrainians living around the world. Some panels bear the names of two places: the Ukrainian hometown a family left behind and the community where they have since settled.
In May, the Book of World Records in Tallinn, Estonia, certified the cloth as a European record. Canada is the next country to join the project, with Carleton Place opening its North American chapter.
Lanark County is now becoming part of the story.
Throughout the summer, Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian residents have worked together at open stitching circles to create a Lanark County panel. During UA FEST, the panel will be sewn onto the enormous rushnyk on the main stage, adding Carleton Place and the Ukrainian communities represented locally to the growing international work.
“This rushnyk was never meant to be finished, and that’s the whole point,” Yatsenko said. “Every new stop adds a new, unique rushnyk, and Carleton Place is the first to add one beyond the ocean. It’s proof that the distance between Ukrainians is only a distance on a map, not in the heart.”
The international project has roots reaching back more than a decade.
In 2013 and 2014, Yatsenko led a similar embroidery initiative in Ukraine’s Kherson region. Children, parents, teachers, university students and maritime cadets helped create a rushnyk more than 700 metres long.
The completed cloth was carried across the Antonivskyi Bridge over the Dnipro River as a symbol of Ukrainian unity and was later certified as a Ukrainian national record.
When Russian forces occupied Kherson in 2022 and looted the museum where it was housed, museum staff managed to save the rushnyk. According to project organizers, it remains in Kherson today.
The current Rushnyk of Unity – Rushnyk of Victory is a separate project launched by Yatsenko from his adopted home in Estonia in October 2024. New panels have been added by Ukrainian communities across Europe, including in Estonia, Portugal, Germany, France, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Italy, Austria, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Its arrival is a significant milestone for a Carleton Place festival that had decidedly modest beginnings.
UA FEST grew out of a garage sale held by Carleton Place resident Gloria Bradley in the spring of 2023 to help Ukrainian families newly arrived in Lanark County. The fundraiser helped launch the first festival later that year, attracting about 1,000 people.
Attendance topped 4,000 last year, and organizers are preparing for about 5,000 visitors this year. The event remains entirely volunteer-run.
This year’s festival will feature Ukrainian music and dance, traditional foods and a varenyky-eating contest. Varenyky are traditional Ukrainian dumplings made with soft, thin unleavened dough wrapped around sweet or savoury fillings.
A makers’ market will feature handmade embroidery, jewellery and other goods. The festival will also offer cultural workshops, a heritage exhibition, children’s activities and a business networking forum connecting Ukrainian entrepreneurs with Lanark County businesses.
Ialovenko said the rushnyk has evolved beyond the traditional idea of an embroidered cloth created for one family.
“Now it’s stitched by anyone who believes unity matters more than bloodline,” she said. “Come see it begin here, in a small town, and add your own thread to a story that will outlast us all.”
UA FEST runs from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, at Riverside Park in Carleton Place. Admission is free.
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