The first subsection Degree of Scientific Development and Source Base of the Work of the first section Theoretical and Methodological Basis of the Study describes the main works of foreign and Ukrainian researchers, which formulate the basic methodological principles of the holiday study. It is noted that the complex polymorphic nature of the holiday attracts the research attention of historians, sociologists, cultural scholars, psychologists, philosophers, art critics, etc. Such methodological interdisciplinarity makes it possible to understand the content, semantic load, functions, and the socio-cultural role of this phenomenon. At the same time, most of the dissertations of Ukrainian philosophers and art critics, historians, and cultural scholars, in particular in the field of theory and history of culture, are devoted to the peculiarities and components of the calendar and ritual holidays of the regions of Ukraine – customs, songs, folk games, etc. These are the works of S. Boyan, T. Haievska, A. Hotsaliuk, N. Hromova, V. Dykhanov, O. Kozholianko, O. Limanska, O. Penkova, O. Smolyak, L. Uzunova, M. Umebayashi, M. Fedushchak, S. Chuyko. Among them, studies of regional wedding rituals prevail (Z. Bosyk, V. Matushenko, I. Nesen, I. Shvorak). The insufficient articulation of the social essence of the holiday and festive culture in Ukrainian socio-humanities, in particular cultural studies, is stated.
In the second subsection Conceptual and Categorical Apparatus of Research: Methodological Preferences of Sociocultural Discourse it is substantiated that in the context of establishing the boundaries of the holiday’s essential characteristics, its architectonics as a complex phenomenon with an infinite number of interdependencies and variations of semantic cultural and social loads, it is promising to conceptually model the phenomenon of “holiday” taking into account the current socio-cultural discourse, which has a relevant scientific methodology relevant to the ambiguity of this phenomenon.
The third subsection Holiday: Concepts, Functions, Classification analyzes the main approaches to the study of the holiday, its function and classification, as well as the author’s definition of the holiday as a socio-cultural phenomenon: a holiday is the most expressive form of extraordinary (non-routine) existence of society, culture and man, the specificity of which is traditionally imbued with a synthesis of sacredness, creativity, freedom, contemplation, and participation, which activates visual, sound, bodily sensations and is implemented by the inherent festive events by entertainment and gaming means and artistic and technological principles of their organization.
