For those who find sightseeing trips or a weekend on the beach a bit boring, Ukraine’s summer agenda is packed with live music events of all types, cinema festivals and opportunities to try out extreme sports. The Kyiv Post has picked out the most interesting and popular festivals being held in Ukraine this summer.
American jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater performs at Alfa Jazz Fest in Lviv on June 12, 2014. (PHL)
Alfa Jazz Fest
For the last few years, every June, the western Ukrainian city of Lviv has gone mad for jazz. This year, for the seventh time in a row, the Alfa Jazz Fest will bring singers and bands to Lviv from all over the world.
This year’s lineup includes jazz legends like Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, Gregory Porter, China Moses and Herbie Hancock. Apart from concert shows, festival guests will be able to visit jam sessions, workshops, film screenings and autograph sessions.
The fest has three stages, located in different parts of the city. Although seats for performances on the stage dedicated to Eddie Rosner are sold out, entrance to the park where the stage will be set up is free, so visitors can still listen to performances while standing. Apart from that, jazz fans can enjoy music for free at the two other stages — on Rynok Square and Potocki Palace Square.
Nataliya Bolibrukh, a blogger who has lived in Lviv almost all her life, has attended Alfa Jazz Fest six times and is looking forward to the seventh. She says that when the festival is held, Lviv is even more charming than usual.
“The city turns into a place of jazz pilgrimage. Music is playing everywhere,” she said.
Alfa Jazz Fest. June 23–27. Lviv. Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Park (4 Bolharska St.), Rynok Square, Potocki Palace Square. Free
Boris Grebenshchikov, Russian rock musician and frontman of the legendary Russian rock band Aquarium, performs at the Atlas Weekend festival in Kyiv on July 9, 2016. (source)
Atlas Weekend
Despite its short, two-year history, Atlas Weekend is already one of the main summer music events in Ukraine. This year’s lineup is diverse: over the five days of the event more than 200 artists will perform on the eight stages at the VDNH national exhibition center in Kyiv.
This year music lovers will be able to hear music legends Kasabian, The Prodigy, John Newman, Three Days Grace, Alex Clare and Nothing But Thieves. Apart from the foreign acts, popular Ukrainian musicians will also perform, including Boombox, The Hardkiss, Onuka, Pianoboy and Monatik.
Maksym Serdiuk, the chief editor of Muzmapa, a website about Ukrainian music, says that Atlas Weekend is not an option for anyone who wants to escape the urban bustle, as there are always a lot of people there. He visited the festival last year and recommended it as the place to be to catch up with old friends.
“They’re all going to be there,” he said.
And Atlas Weekend has a special present for visitors this year — on June 28, Constitution Day, entrance will be free. The headliner of the day will be Verka Serduchka, who represented Ukraine at Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 and took a creditable second place. The lineup of the day also includes VV, Serhii Babkin, Skai, Green Grey, and Kozak System.
Atlas Weekend. June 28 — July 2. Kyiv. VDNH (1 Hlushkov Ave.) Hr 300–5,000.
Alik Shpilyuk, program head of the International Odesa Film Festival talks to the press at the festival’s opening ceremony in Odesa on July 15, 2016. (source)
Odesa International Film Festival
One of the best film festivals in Eastern Europe is held annually in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa. The festival aims to popularize art cinema in the country and support the development of the Ukrainian cinematography. And year by year, the festival is lengthening the list of its participants and the number of countries in which the films are produced.
Over the nine days, the film marathon will screen premieres of Ukrainian and foreign movies. The festival has two main locations — Odesa’s Festival Palace and the Rodina Festival Center. Like more famous film festivals all over the world, Odesa will also roll out the red carpet for celebrity guests. Apart from watching the exclusive premieres and special screenings, visitors will also have an opportunity to attend workshops and meetings with directors and actors by day, and party with them by night.
Mykyta Kozlov, a history student at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, has already bought a pass for the July festival. He has already attended the event twice and loved living from film to film for nine days.
He likes the proximity the festival gives to actors, directors and visitors to the festival.
“There was one comic situation, when I was demonstrating my not-so-great dancing skills beside (U.S. filmmaker) Darren Aronofsky and the Belgian actor Ian Beivut,” he said.
Kozlov says that another plus of the festival is the special atmosphere in the tent camp — night screenings, daytime lounge on hammocks, loud parties, and meeting lots of new people.
Odesa International Film Festival. July 14–22. Odesa. Festival Palace (3 Panteleimonivska St.), Rodina festival center (104 Mechnykova St.) Nine days pass — Hr 1,200.
People rest in a tent camp at the Faine Misto festival near Ternopil city in July, 2016. (Courtesy of Faine Misto)
Faine Misto
Faine Misto is a four-day festival of music and fun. The festival got its name from the location where it is traditionally held — near Ternopil, a city Ukrainians call a “faine misto” (a good/fine town). The number of festival attendees has been growing every year due to its impressive and diverse lineup.
This summer it includes popular foreign bands Guano Apes, Poets of the Fall, Skindred, Bloom Twins, and On-the-Go, as well as Ukrainian musicians Druha Rika, Hadiukiny Brothers, Antytila, O. Torvald, TNMK, Khrystyna Solovii and many others.
Apart from music stages, the festival this year has a new location — the Amphiteatre, which is a literature and theatre stage, platform for lectures, and a nighttime cinema. Among others famous Ukrainian authors Serhii Zhadan, Andrii Lubka, Yurii Izdryk will give their performances at Amphiteatre.
Natalia Mydliak, a history student from Ternopil Oblast who currently lives in Kyiv, can’t imagine July without the festival. She has attended Faine Misto twice, and is keenly awaiting more fun this summer. She says that it is a unique event.
“You will remember the emotions you have at the festival as the best moments of the summer,” she said.
Festivalgoers can either stay in nearby hotels or get a pass for a tent camp set up by Faine Misto, which includes a food court, showers and other necessary facilities.
Faine Misto. July 20–23. Ternopil Oblast. Ternopil racetrack (7 kilometers from Ternopil on the H02 road). Four-day pass — Hr 820, three-day — Hr 720, two-day — Hr 620, one day — Hr 520, tent camp pass — Hr 200.
Pianoboy performs at the Impulse Fest in Kharkiv on July 30, 2016. (Arsen Dzodzaev http://dzodzaev.c)
Impulse Fest
This festival was founded nine years ago in Kharkiv, the biggest city in eastern Ukraine, which is considered the capital of alternative music in the country. Kharkiv musicians usually have individual styles and innovative sounds. Once a small event at a nightclub, Impulse Fest is now one of the most popular music events in the country.
Ihor Stupka, an IT-specialist who moved to Kharkiv two years ago, visited the festival in 2016. He loves Impulse because it not only has top Ukrainian artists, who rock the main stage, but also beginners, who perform on a small stage, which, he says, is literally tiny.
“The musicians didn’t just perform, they communicated with the audience,” he said. “I adore the small stage of Impulse.”
This year the festival is maintaining its tradition of inviting Kharkiv musicians — including Serhiy Babkin, and Urbanistan — as well as bands from all over the country, including Boombox, TNMK, Druha Rika, SKAI, Kadnay, Rozhden, and Bahroma.
Impulse Fest. July 28–30. Kharkiv. Mehanika Art Factory (126a Plekhanivska St.) Three days — Hr 670, one day — Hr 350.
A crowd passes a woman overhead as they have fun at the ZaxidFest festival in Lviv Oblast in August, 2016. (Courtesy of ZaxidFest)
ZaxidFest
ZaxidFest is a great event for all those who want to take a break from the city and go to a remote place to enjoy music, surrounded by nature. The festival is held near the village of Rodytychi, which is 40 kilometers from Lviv. The organizers set up a tent camp in the middle of a forest, along with a parking lot, food court, showers and places for charging gadgets.
The festival’s music program is full and diverse — visitors will be able to hear hard rock, metal, indie rock, hip-hop, electronics and other styles. The lineup includes foreign performers such as Editors, Enter Shikari, Breaking Benjamin, and In Extremo, as well as Ukrainian acts O. Torvald, Pianoboy, Vivienne Mort, 5 Vymir and others.
Oleksandr Protsenko, a sales manager, who has lived all his life in Sumy, a city in eastern Ukraine, recommends ZaxidFest for its special atmosphere. The majority of the festival’s visitors are western Ukrainians, who, according to Protsenko, are very friendly, hospitable, kind and open-minded.
“Everyone is good-natured and loving,” he said.
ZaxidFest. August 18–20. Lviv oblast, Rodatychi. One day — Hr 660, three days — Hr 990, tent camp pass for three days — Hr 250.
Z-Games
The Z-Games festival is a perfect combination of extreme sports and music. The festival has been held in Ukraine annually since 2010, in recent years usually in Odesa, where it is being held this year again. Z-Games is great for all those who like to watch action sports competitions, listen to music and party by the beach. Visitors can also take part in extreme sports competitions themselves. The program includes skateboarding, MTB and BMX, rollerblading, kitesurfing, skimboarding, bouldering (rock climbing), slacklining, parkour, and breakdancing.
Wakeboarding world champion Anastasiia Ponomarenko visited the festival last year. She says that she enjoyed spending time with people who shared her interests in action sports. Ponomarenko also said she loved the festival’s “energetic atmosphere and music.”
Apart from watching the competitions, visitors can attend yoga and slacklining workshops, and even take windsurfing lessons with an instructor.
The team of Z-Games hasn’t yet announced the lineup for this year’s event. Previous headliners have included Xzibit, Tesla Boy, Brutto, Hardkiss, and O. Torvald.
Z-Games. August 21–27. Odesa Oblast. Hr 799–1,100
