This summer, the harvest of festivals is rich with non-musical ones. This is the Kyiv Post’s review of the ones worth visiting:
Kyiv Fire Festival
In a few days, Kyiv will be on fire: acrobats, jugglers, artists on stilts, dancers and festivalgoers will march the streets of Kyiv. Everyone is invited to take part in the parade. You only need to take something extraordinary with you, like a bright costume, a mask or balloons.
Across different stages, you can visit workshops of fire schools, circus performances, play the drums and even draw fire graffiti. The program also includes performances from national and foreign teams, as well as legends of the fire and circus genre from Scotland, France, Bulgaria, German, Finland and the United States.
Date: June 10-11
Venue: Kyiv, June 10, Poshtova Square; June 11 Spartak Stadium, 105 Frunze St.
Official site: www.firefest.infowww.firefest.info
Price: June 10 – free, June 11th – Hr 45
Mussels’ Express
The Mussels and Wine Festival will be held in Balaklava. It turns out that mussels inhabit not only foreign seas, they can also be found in the Black Sea. Their meat is healthy. It contains natural antioxidants and vitamins.
White wine is a perfect fit for this nutritious and tasty marine product, and that’s why this delicious combination will be represented during the festival.
It is hard to resist the walks on the evening esplanade, exquisite dishes cooked by the chef of a Moscow restaurant and the best Crimean wines served by a sommelier. You could also visit workshops on mussel preparation, wine degustation and also buy medicine and souvenirs made of mussels.
Date: July 5-6
Venue: Balaklava, Crimea
Price: free
Trypilske Kolo
This eco-cultural ethnic festival is held not far from Kyiv, in a place where there is lots of spring water and lush vegetation. This year, the festival finishes the cycle of the four elements – this time, air, rather than fire, water and earth.
To point out the importance of the problems with global warning, the logo of the festival is: “Breathe with Chest Full!” Different fairs, fire shows, theatre performances, dance studios and extreme entertainment events are waiting for you.
The venue is the territory of mysterious Trypillya, the area which in ancient times was inhabited by one of the earliest agricultural civilizations in the world.
Date: June 30-July 3
Venue: Rzhyschiv, Kyiv Oblast
Official site: http://tkfest.com.ua
Price: Advance tickets Hr 90-130; for students – Hr 75-105
Ancient Lviv
This festival of medieval culture will turn the wonderful city of Lviv and its people into brave knights, charming ladies, fools and hangmen. Representatives of various Ukrainian and international knight clubs will visit the celebration.
Guests will have an opportunity to try their hand at archery, try on the knight’s armor and medieval dresses, buy different souvenirs or try some food cooked according to ancient recipes in a real medieval tavern.
The culmination of the festival is the tournament of knights, with the winner choosing the Queen of Love and Beauty. Ukrainian bands will play medieval music to entertain the guests, capped by a fire show.
Venue: Lviv, Pototsky Palace, 15a Kopernika St.
Official site: http://www.lviv-old.org.ua/
Price: single day: Hr 25; children: Hr. 15; children under 7 years old: free.
Date: end of the June 2011
Odessa Film Festival
Odessa Film Festival presents a great opportunity to watch masterpieces of both national and foreign filmmakers.
There will be a few pleasant surprises during the festival.
The first one is guest John Malkovich, the American actor, producer and director. Jezhy Shtur will head the jury.
Another surprise from the organizers of the festival is the inclusion of an open-air cinema performance of the George Melies Show.
Melies is a French magician, actor and producer. He is famous for the invention of cinema special effects.
The show’s performers are descendants of this distinguished moviemaker. The show consists of a movie screening accompanied by live music and narration.
Date: July 15-23
Venue:Odessa
Official site: http://www.oiff.com.ua/
Price: season ticket: Hr 700-1000; summer school ticket: Hr 300-500, VIP ticket: Hr 5,000.
