The idea for Vyshyvanka Day came from a student at a university in the city of Chernivtsi in 2006. She noticed that many students owned embroidered shirts but rarely wore them, so she suggested everyone wear theirs on the same day. The idea quickly spread to other universities, then to schools, then to whole towns.
Now it is celebrated all over Ukraine, and even by Ukrainians who live in other countries around the world. There are events in Canada, the US, Australia and the UK where Ukrainian families gather and wear their vyshyvankas together. It has become a worldwide day.
Children get especially excited because they don't have to wear school uniform - they get to wear their special embroidered shirts instead. Some come from their mum's or grandma's wardrobe and have been worn for many years. Others are brand new. Some have been hand-stitched by an aunt or grandmother. Some have been bought from a shop.
On Vyshyvanka Day, schools often hold concerts, sing folk songs, and learn about different regional patterns. Children might be asked which region of Ukraine their pattern is from. The patterns from western Ukraine look very different from the patterns from central Ukraine, which look different again from those in the south.