Poltavskyi Yarmarok a Curitiba, Paraná – Brasil. Dei 600.000 discendenti degli ucraini in Brasile, 500.000 di loro vivono nello stato di Paraná.

Photos taken by me last saturday on the 8th Poltavskyi Yarmarok held by the folkloric group Poltava in Curitiba, Paraná, in the South of Brasil. Curitiba is home to 500,000 of the 600,000 Ukrainian Brazilians, the area where the first immigrants settled being nicknamed as the Brazilian Ukraine. If it had a capital it would be [Prudentópolis](https://www.crmpr.org.br/dbimages/pridentpolis-1_23115_img.png), where 75% of the population are descendants of Ukrainians. One of Paranás most celebrated poets, Helena Kolody, was the daughther of Ukrainian immigrants. The renowned writer and journalist Clarice Lispector was born in Ukraine, but lived most of her life in Brazil, albeit in Recife and later in Rio de Janeiro.

Traces of Ukrainian culture can be also seen in Curitiba in its [11 Ukrainian churches](https://clube.gazetadopovo.com.br/noticias/outros/igrejas-ucranianas-em-curitiba/) (not counting those [in the metropolitan region](https://www.google.com/maps/@-25.749746,-49.2405387,3a,87.9y,13.01h,86.06t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s5dbRjEUUUJeQBowvtNyj1w!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D3.9444963910450923%26panoid%3D5dbRjEUUUJeQBowvtNyj1w%26yaw%3D13.005365407576017!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDgyNS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D) ), as well as in [Ukraine Square](https://www.instagram.com/p/DBT78Rmp7Wx/), with its tiles inspired by traditional embroidery, and the [Ukrainian Memorial](https://vamosviajarpraondeagora.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20210203_124242-scaled.jpg). It was built in 1995, a replica of Igreja do Arcanjo Miguel built in Mallet, Paraná by Ukrainian immigrants between 1897-1901. It houses [religious icons](https://mid-noticias.curitiba.pr.gov.br/2021/00321595.jpg), paintings, [pysanky](https://www.melevaviajar.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Parque-Tingui-Curitiba-Interior.jpg) and objects owned by immigrants in the past. It is the stage of several events throughout the year, such as [the blessing of the Easter baskets every Holy Saturday](https://mid-noticias.curitiba.pr.gov.br/2022/00341381.jpg).

Curitiba has many of such memorials for immigrants, like the [Polish](https://www.reddit.com/r/Polska/comments/1k6nafi/%C5%9Bwi%C4%99conka_w_kurytybie_paran%C3%A1_brazylia_19042025/) (Curitiba is second only to Chicago as the largest Polish Diaspora), [Japanese](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/CuritibaPracaDoJapaoCerejeira.JPG), [Arabs](https://arteforadomuseu.com.br/site/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Memorial-%C3%81rabe2.jpg), [Italians](https://descobertasbarbaras.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/italia.jpg), [Africans](https://static.revistahaus.com.br/revistahaus/2016/11/201611/memorial-africano-antonio-more-53a28c90.jpg), [Germans](https://viagemeturismo.abril.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/bosque-alemao-curitiba.jpg?quality=70&strip=info&w=414&h=280&crop=1), etc. Most of them have folkloric events all year long, celebrating the patchwork of cultures that makes up Paraná. Even if you’re not descendant from these groups, you’d be hardpressed not to know at least something about them, to have visited their memorials, participated in their events or eaten their traditional foods in the many street markets and fairs that happen every week all around the city.

Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦❤️🇧🇷