Some of the best musicians from all over the world will come to Ukraine this summer to rock the stage during the country’s many music festivals. Here are the top music festivals of the summer.
Leopolis Jazz Fest
At the end of June Lviv, the unofficial capital of western Ukraine, will turn into the country’s jazz capital. The Leopolis Jazz Festival (Leopolis is the Latin name for Lviv, “the City of Lions”), which was earlier known as Alfa Jazz, will kick off on June 27 and feature numerous musicians from all over the world. This international event was listed by The Guardian as one of the top 10 jazz festivals in Europe.
Leopolis will hold performances in three locations: the main stage, named after Polish jazzman Eddie Rosner, which requires tickets to enter, as well as two stages on Rynok Square and near Pototskykh Palace, both of which are free to attend. This year’s lineup features global stars of jazz Ahmad Jamal, Marcus Miller and Charles Lloyd from the United States, Jamie Cullum from the United Kingdom and Mario Biondi from Italy. Ukraine’s top electronic band Onuka will also perform at the festival, playing their most popular tracks as well as songs from the new album “Mozaika.”
Leopolis Jazz Fest. Lviv. Eddie Rosner stage (4 Bolharska St.), Rynok Square, Pototskykh Palace (15 Mykoly Kopernyka St.) June 27 — July 1. One-day entrance — Hr 550–5,000.
Buy tickets at www.leopolisjazz.com/en/tickets
U.S. soul and jazz singer China Moses performs during her 90-minute show on the main stage of Alfa Jazz Fest in Lviv on June 25, 2017. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Atlas Weekend
The Chemical Brothers, Martin Garrix, LP, Tom Odell, Lost Frequencies, Nothing But Thieves — these great modern acts and many others will perform at Ukraine’s biggest music festival, Atlas Weekend in Kyiv. Atlas Weekend, which has been held in Kyiv since 2015, was recently named by the British online music news site Gigwise as one of the 39 best festivals in the world. Over seven days, the festival will feature musicians of various genres from pop and rap to rock and electronic.
Apart from lots of foreign bands and singers, the lineup includes popular Ukrainian bands such as Boombox, DakhaBrakha, Pianoboy, 5’nizza, Dakh Daughters, Antytila, O. Torvald and Skai, as well as the rising stars of Ukrainian music industry — Kadnay, Yeyo, Tayanna, Brunettes Shoot Blondes, and more. The first day of the festival on July 3 will feature only Ukrainian bands and entry will be free.
As many people come to Kyiv for Atlas Weekend from all over the country, the festival will set up a camping area so that guests can enjoy the festival atmosphere day and night. The organizers also promise yoga sessions in the morning.
Atlas Weekend. VDNH (1 Akademika Hlushkova Ave.) July 3–9. Festival pass is Hr 1,900, camping — Hr 500.
Buy tickets at www.atlasweekend.com/en/buy-tickets
UPark Festival
UPark was first held two years ago in Kyiv. It’s not a typical music festival but rather a two-day series of shows by top bands on one stage. This year, UPark’s attendees will be able to hear the legendary British band Gorillaz, Swedish electro-pop singer Tove Lo, another band from Britain, playing trip-hop, Massive Attack, Icelandic blues and rock band Kaleo, British musician and DJ Bonobo, and others. The Ukrainian representatives include electronic folk bands Onuka and Yuko.
UPark Festival. Valerii Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium (3 Mykhaila Hrushevskoho St.) July 25–26. Festival pass — Hr 2,699, one-day pass — Hr 1,430–1,499
Buy tickets at ticket.uparkfestival.com/2018/hall
BeLive
At the end of June, entertainment festival BeLive will fill Ukraine’s biggest sports arena, the Olympic Stadium, with fans of music, cinema, extreme sports and stand-up comedy. The festival combines various entertainment with educational lectures, a lounge zone, and all kinds of street food. For the music part, BeLive will have two stages, where both beginning and legendary bands will perform. The main stage will feature performances by one of the most prominent exponents of jazz funk, British band Jamiroquai, Dutch house DJ Funkerman, British indie rock band Everything Everything, and synth-pop duo Hurts.
Check out the festival’s My Music Stage to listen to up-and-coming Ukrainian musicians playing in various genres, all of whom have lots of energy to share. The Ukrainian lineup includes future-pop band The Erised, which has become quite popular abroad, electronic singer Constantine, young pop-rock band Mountain Breeze, Kazka band, which blends experimental pop and folk, and pop singer Laud.
BeLive. Olympic Stadium (55 Velyka Vasylkivska St.) June 21–24. Festival pass — Hr 1,350–1,750. One-day pass — Hr 999–1,199
Buy tickets at www.goo.gl/HJzovU
Visitors listen to music at ZaxidFest held on Aug. 19-21, 2016. This year, the festival, which takes place in western Ukraine, celebrates its 10th anniversary. (ZaxidFest)
ZaxidFest
A long-term fixture of the music festival life in Ukraine, ZaxidFest is getting ready to celebrate its 10-year anniversary in August. ZaxidFest will as usual shake the village of Rodatychi, located some 40 kilometers from Lviv in western Ukraine. The festival will set up a mini-version of a city, with three stages, a camping area, a parking zone, food court, and all of the necessary infrastructure in the middle of a forest on the territory of a recreational complex.
ZaxidFest’s lineup is famous for featuring multiple diverse artists. And this year, the organizers promise to set up a battle between rock and rap. The list of headliners includes Welsh hard rock band Bullet for My Valentine, Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura, Swedish metal band Therion, and German metalcore band We Butter the Bread with Butter. Among the Ukrainian musicians, the festival has so far announced indie pop band Latexfauna, rock band Tartak and pop punk band Poshlaya Molly.
ZaxidFest. Lviv oblast, Rodatychi. Aug. 24–26. One day — Hr 660, three days — Hr 990, tent camp pass for three days — Hr 250.
Buy tickets at www.zaxidfest.com/en/page/get-tickets
Brave Factory Festival
As the rave culture continues to develop in Ukraine, not only electronic music parties but also entire festivals are now being held here. Brave Factory is one of them — another young festival that was launched only last year. The first Brave Factory was held inside an old industrial factory that was decorated with modern street art inside. This year, the festival hasn’t announced a venue yet, but promised it would be as artsy as the previous one — enhanced with installations and visual art.
The festival will have four or five stages, where over 60 DJs, both local and foreign ones, will perform their sets. Brave Factory has so far announced six electronic music artists — Apollonia from France, Chris Liebing from Germany, Stingray 313 from the United States, as well as British Floating Points, Hidden Orchestra and Squarepusher. The full lineup is yet to be published.
Brave Factory Festival. Location to be announced. Aug. 25–26. Festival pass — Hr 1,050
Buy tickets at www.residentadvisor.net/events/1085566
Faine Misto
Faine Misto festival, held at the racetrack in western Ternopil Oblast in July, will bring together 80 performers and thousands of visitors. Launched in 2013, the festival has been rapidly growing its visitor numbers — up to 16,000 people attended the event last year.
The festival’s genre-diverse lineup will feature both Ukrainian and foreign musicians. Finnish rock band The Rasmus, Lithuanian electronic duo Beissoul & Einius and British pop band Bloom Twins are on the list.
Faine Misto will also feature local musicians — the founders of Ukrainian rock Vopli Vidopliasova, electronic folk band Onuka, Pianoboy, Kadnay, Vivienne Mort, and more.
Faine Misto. Ternopil Oblast. Ternopil racetrack (7 kilometers from Ternopil along the H02 road). July 19–22. Festival pass — Hr 980, two-day pass — Hr 600–850, one-day pass — Hr 600, camping — Hr 250, parking — Hr 170.
Buy tickets at www.fainemisto.com.ua/tickets
