Old aircraft exhibited at the State Aviation Museum of Ukraine have not experienced turbulence for many years. That was until an electronic music party shook the grounds of the museum on July 2.
The event, organized by an online platform called Cercle, which throws electronic parties and DJ sets in picturesque and unusual places all over the world and streams them live, was the first of its kind in Kyiv.
“We want to showcase what the world has to offer in terms of locations and culture,” Pol Souchier, the head of Cercle’s communications told the Kyiv Post.
Cercle was founded by a France-based team four years ago to promote artists and venues.
The platform presents DJ sets and live performances every Monday in unusual locations such as castles, cathedrals, museums, mountaintops, salt flats and more.
The team has organized over 100 parties and performances in around 10 countries around the world. One of its most striking events took place near France’s most iconic landmark, the Eiffel Tower, and another was held on the snowy slopes of the Western Alp mountain range.
The live performances and DJ sets have millions of views on YouTube. Its most popular video has racked up 24 million hits.
After attracting Cercle’s attention not long ago, Kyiv’s State Aviation Museum, one of the world’s biggest displays of retired planes and aviation technology, has become one of their selected outdoor venues.
Souchier says that after Cercle decided to expand their geography outside of France, they found the aviation museum in Kyiv and were fond of the exhibited aircrafts.
Souchier says that there are some museums in the world that resemble the one in Kyiv.
“But this one is quite unique,” Souchier says. “The aesthetics of all those planes is beautiful.”
For the music part, the team invited Dutch techno DJ Reinier Zonneveld.
“That was amazing,” Zonneveld said in an interview to Cercle after finishing his DJ set. “The crowd was really nice and the location is super.”
After the interview, Cercle continued their tradition of giving a symbolic souvenir to an artist representing the venue they played at: Zonneveld received part of a plane engine.
Before the main gig, Ukrainian DJ Smailov warmed up the audience, while French artist Phil Dark took over the DJ mixer after Zonneveld.
The first event by Cercle in Kyiv attracted hundreds of partygoers.
Dmytro Dolhov and Anatoliy Kostyrkin are two friends that are long-time fans of electronic music and regulars at Kyiv raves. They have been following Cercle’s activity for a while now, occasionally listening to their live sets.
Several weeks ago, the friends went to France hoping that the next party would be held there and they could attend. However, Cercle went to Croatia that week so the two returned to Ukraine only to find out the team was following.
They say they loved the music and how Cercle set everything up at the venue.
“It’s cool,” Dolhov told the Kyiv Post. “It’s something new.”
Unlike Dolhov and Kostyrkin, another guest to the Cercle party, Mariya Shevchenko, is not a big fan of electronic music. However, when she discovered the platform around half a year ago, she immediately loved their concept.
“They gather people at a cool location and throw a cool live set during the sunset,” Shevchenko told the Kyiv Post. “Nobody does anything like that.”
Earlier on March 12, Ukrainian electronic duo ArtBat gave a DJ set at Cercle’s party on one of the stops of the Sugarloaf cableway, located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
