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s49.radikal.ru Czech beer brand Velkopopovicky Kozel, a recent arrival on the Ukraine market, will hold a major promotional event – an open-air festival dedicated to Czech culture in Pirogovo Museum (known in Ukrainian as Pyrohiv). It will take place with the support of Czech Republic in Ukraine, Czech Cultural Center and National Czech tourism department.

Produced by Sarmat brewery in Donetsk, the beer takes its name from Velke Popovice village, only10 kilometers from Prague. Beer festivals are frequently held there. Now this tradition is gaining hold in Kyiv.

The event will be held July 4-5, inside the so-called “Czech Village” in Pirogovo. The festival program includes Czech folk music performed by a choir, traditional contests, games and Czech national dances. The special guests of the festival are the host, Kuzma Skryabin and music bands Toporkestra and Perkalaba.

Toporkestra is comprised of Moldavian Gypsies and Odesa Jews, as well as Turks and Ukrainians. Their music is an amazing band of Turkish and Klezmer (traditional music of Eastern European Jews) styles mixed with Ukrainian folk songs, Soviet pop songs and Odesa chanson. The band was founded three years ago when Moldavian Serhiy Topor started performing Balkan music on the accordion and soon some of the best Kyiv musicians joined his band.

Perkalaba was founded in Ivano-Frankivsk in 1998, and first played ska and reggae music, but later turned into the direction of ethnic Hutsul music (Hutsuls are a well-known ethno-cultural group from the Carpathian Mountains). By now the band has performed all over Ukraine, and in 2007 Perkalaba signed up with German agency, Agents4music, and toured Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland.

Pirohovo. July 4-5, 11 a.m. till 5 p.m.