Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village

Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village

Established	1974
Location	Lamont County, east of Elk Island National Park, Alberta, Canada
Type	open-air, living history
Website	www.history.alberta.ca/ukrainianvillage

Open to the public from the May long weekend to Labour Day, the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village (Ukrainian: Село спадщини української культури, romanized: Selo spadshchyny ukrains’koi kul’tury) is an open-air museum that uses costumed historical interpreters to recreate pioneer settlements in east central Alberta, Canada, northeast and east of Edmonton. In particular it shows the lives of Ukrainian Canadian settlers from the years 1899 to 1930. Buildings from surrounding communities have been moved to the historic site and restored to various years within the first part of the twentieth century.

"The Village", as it is colloquially known, has a very strong commitment to historical authenticity and the concept of living history. The Village uses a technique known as first-person interpretation which requires that the costumed performers remain in character at all times (or as much as is feasibly possible). Actors answer all questions as if it is the year their building portrays. Although this technique is startling for some visitors at first, it allows for a much stronger experience of immersion in history than traditional third-person interpretation, where the actor acknowledges that he is, in fact, in a museum.

The village is in Lamont County on the Yellowhead highway, on the eastern edge of Elk Island National Park.