The COVID-19 pandemic postponed the 10th Leopolis Jazz Fest, one of Ukraine’s most prominent music gatherings, by a whole year. But the event is now preparing to finally celebrate the anniversary on June 24-28.
With a star lineup and precautionary measures, the festival will, as usual, take place in Lviv, a city of 730,000 people more than 500 kilometers west of Kyiv.
Leopolis is one of the first mass music festivals to be held in Ukraine since the start of the pandemic. While the COVID-19 situation appears to have stabilized all across the country, the vaccination pace is still slow, and some quarantine measures remain in force.
The decision to hold the event wasn’t easy, according to the organizers. They expected musicians to reject participation, but to their surprise, that didn’t happen.
“We received a completely different reaction from everyone: support from the city council, willingness to perform from the participants, despite any difficulties,” Natalia Gorbachevskaya, the festival’s executive director, said during a press conference on May 12.
Although most of the tickets have been sold, for some shows, they are still available to buy on the festival’s website for Hr 550-1,600 ($20-59). The event will set up three picnic areas, where concerts will be broadcast live on big screens. The access to the camps will cost Hr 25-50 ($1-2).
Star lineup
Listed as one of Europe’s top 10 festivals by the U.K. newspaper The Guardian in 2017, Leopolis Jazz Fest is known for bringing some of the world’s biggest jazz stars to Lviv. This year will be no exception.
“This is the 10th festival, so we wanted to bring stars who are truly admired among music lovers,” Lidiya Novokhatko, the festival’s head of press office, told the Kyiv Post.
The lineup features 28 bands and solo performers from 18 countries, who will play at three stages set up across the city.
One of the most anticipated acts is U.S. saxophonist Kamasi Washington, known for his collaborations with jazz legend Herbie Hancock, rapper Kendrick Lamar, singer John Legend and more.
Another big name is Grammy-winning U.K. singer Seal. Though he is mostly famous for making music that mixes pop, R&B and soul, in 2017, Seal released a jazz-influenced album called “Standards.”
There’s also Grammy winner trumpeter and composer Chris Botti from the United States. The festival’s art director, Alexey Kogan, called him “an example of good, expensive and refined music.” Throughout his career, Botti performed alongside Frank Sinatra, Sting, Barbra Streisand and Tony Bennett.
The list goes on including pianist Kathrine Windfeld from Denmark, Israeli musicians Itamar Borochov and Avishai Cohen, and U.S. trumpeter Wynton Marsalis who will perform with 15 virtuoso musicians from the U.S. Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Aside from the multiple concerts, Leopolis will hold free film screenings, which will be announced later.
The festival is putting on hold its jam session tradition of bringing together jazz enthusiasts to improvise at Lviv’s bars and clubs because of the pandemic restrictions.
Instead, a double-decker bus with a jazz band on the roof will circle around the city entertaining passengers on board. The jazz bus schedule will be published on the website a week prior to the festival.
Restrictions, accommodation
Leopolis will incorporate measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading at its events.
The maximum number of visitors will be halved compared to the previous years — in 2019, 100,000 people attended the festival. All attendees will have to test negative for the coronavirus to be allowed entrance.
Those who have front row tickets will have to take a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test at their own expense less than 72 hours before attending. Those who will listen to the shows either from fan zones or broadcast locations will be able to take express tests provided by the festival at the entrances for free. Children under 12 are not required to be tested.
Visitors can register for express testing online in advance so that they don’t have to wait in line. Those who test positive will have their tickets refunded.
Those who will not be able to get to the concert will be able to watch online broadcasts on Leopolis Jazz Fest social networks.
The most convenient way to get to Lviv from Kyiv is by taking a seven-hour train trip. It departs at 6:50 a.m. and arrives by 1:45 p.m. For the time of the festival, Ukraine’s railway monopoly Ukraliznytsia has even renamed the train into a Jazz Express. The train ticket costs about Hr 500-1,000 ($19-37).
Travelers can get a hotel room in Lviv starting at Hr 500 ($19) per night or an Airbnb apartment starting at Hr 570 ($21) per night.
