First place, Portrait. Three flat-coated retrievers – Crew, Darcie and Pagan – by Carol Durrant from the UK. (Photo by Carol Durrant/Dog Photographer of the Year 2018)

Villagers take part in Kolyada holiday celebrations in the village of Martsiyanauka, east of the capital Minsk, January 21, 2015. Local residents took part in the celebrations to mark the end of a pagan winter holiday Kolyada, which over the centuries has merged with Orthodox Christmas celebrations. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

A man climbs up a wooden pole to get a prize during celebration of Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, a pagan holiday marking the end of winter, near Rumyantsevo, Moscow region, Russia, February 26, 2017. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

Belarusian villagers celebrate the Christmas carol rite (Kalyady) in the village of Danilevichy, some 320 km south of Minsk on January 7, 2020. Kalyady is an ancient pagan holiday originally celebrated on winter solstice. Dressed-up people walk from house to house singing, dancing, eating and drinking with their neighbours. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/AFP Photo)

Participants jump over a bonfire as they celebrate the Pagan holiday of Ivan Kupala, a traditional holiday that has been observed in Ukraine since pre-Christian times, in Kyiv, on June 23, 2024, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/AFP Photo)

A girl jumps over a campfire while celebrating Ivan Kupala Night, a traditional Slavic holiday not far from Kiev on July 6, 2013. During the celebration, originating in pagan times, people plait wreaths, jump over fires, and swim naked. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP Photo)

A boy fires blanks from a Kalashnikov rifle, during Maslenitsa celebrations, or Shrovetide, to say farewell to winter in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Maslenitsa is a traditional Russian and Belarusian holiday marking the end of winter that dates back to pagan times. (Photo by Sergei Grits/AP Photo)

A man wearing a traditional Russian costume holds a goose after a traditional goose fight during celebrations of Maslenitsa, also known as Pancake Week, which is a pagan holiday marking the end of winter, in Suzdal, Russia on February 29, 2020. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)