Russia’s traditional midsummer night celebration, held around July 6–7, is called Ivan Kupala.
Ivan Kupala is an East Slavic celebration associated with water, fire, fertility, and the summer solstice. In the modern Gregorian calendar, many observances take place on the night of July 6 and continue into July 7, Saint John the Baptist’s feast day in the Eastern Christian tradition.
Customs include lighting bonfires, leaping over flames, bathing or swimming, and floating flower wreaths on rivers. Folklore also tells of a fern flower that supposedly blooms for one night and grants special knowledge or fortune.
The date can cause confusion because the Russian Orthodox liturgical calendar follows the Julian calendar for fixed feasts. Ivan Kupala is therefore often described as a midsummer festival even though its civil-calendar date is in early July.