Christmas dinner most Poles spend the day feasting with their family. The Christmas meal is elaborate, served in the evening on 24 December, offering large quantities of food. This Christmas Eve meal is called Wigilia. After the first star appears in the sky, everyone shares the Christmas wafer (opłatek) and wishes good things for the coming year. Then supper begins. The meal is meatless, honouring Catholic tradition. Many households also prepare a great variety of special Christmas dishes, typically numbering 12 in honor of the 12 apostles. Dishes include: stuffed carp, fried carp, herring in wine sauce, herring in cream sauce, fruit
Ukrainian Association of Washington State activities of the association was preservation and cultivation of Ukrainian culture in the region. The association traditionally celebrates anniversaries of birth of Taras Shevchenko, participates in regional Christmas festival, represents Ukrainian culture on Northwest Folklife Festival and other festivals in US and Canada. From 2004, The association sponsors folk dance group «Barvinok» which participated and won multiple awards on international Ukrainian festivals in Ukrainian dance category. For example, in 2010 on Ukrainian festival in Canada, «Barvinok» won 4 gold and 2 silver medals. In 1973, the association has organized Ukrainian language courses in the University of Washington. The association continues