In coming together, we are able to reconnect and co-create the ways of Village Life: to create beauty with our hands and voices, hear each others’ stories, tend to the garden, break bread with one another, dance in ecstatic joy and simply be together. It is a chance to learn, play and grow alongside one another in natural, communal ways. 

Kosa Folk Arts gatherings are rooted in the rich and multi-sensory traditions of Ukraine and Eastern Europe, though we welcome and celebrate people and traditions of all lineages. We honour that the ways of our ancestors are deeply woven across traditions—the connection to the land, creativity as a birthright expression, food harvest and making, and ceremony as a sacred portal for collective nourishment. 

Come join us and indulge in the pleasure of learning a new craft, developing meaningful life-long friendships, resting in the serenity of forest, orchard and lake, and being enlivened by the spontaneity of living life together. 

Our Guiding Principles

Kosa Folk Arts was birthed through Kosa Kolektiv, a creative collaboration of women based out of Toronto with mixed Ukrainian heritage, passionate about the exploration of Ukrainian heritage, culture & identity, creative community action and collective art-making.   

While camp is grounded in the traditions of Eastern Europe, it has attracted folks of many different lineages, welcoming the richness of diverse ancestral traditions and the artful practices that embody them. We deeply value the creative gifts and wisdom of all people. We honour and uplift the ways in which the land is so deeply connected to our ancestors and supports our well-being and nourishment in community. 

It is from this place that we offer these Guiding Principles for our time with one another:

• Folk culture is organic and non-authoritative.

• There is tradition and there is the ever-present reality of change. We embrace both.

• We honour tradition and the wisdom passed on to us through the generations that preceded us, and we honour the creative spirit that lives in each and every one of us, here and now.

• We celebrate diversity.

• We strive to leave Earth a better place for having us.

• We embrace that which is beautiful and lasting, and has been made with care and devotion.

• We share. Songs, stories, food, hopes and dreams, concerns...

• We listen to learn and understand.

• We participate in making each space welcoming—free of discrimination, judgment; full of acceptance, empathy and support.

• We welcome people of all identities and backgrounds.

• We do not tolerate harassment of any kind.