Vlad Yaremchuk on the ‘unbelievable’ return of Atlas Festival
Ukraine’s Atlas Festival is set to take place for the first time since the Russian invasion, it was announced last month.
Rebranded as Atlas United, the fundraising festival will take place in the capital city of Kyiv from 12–14 July after three years away.
Over 70 Ukrainian artists and several international acts will perform across six stages installed in Kyiv’s Blockbuster Mall, with the underground car park to be used as a shelter in the event of an air siren.
Here, programming director Vlad Yaremchuk tells IQ how the Atlas team is pulling together the biggest festival Ukraine has seen in years.
How have you managed to bring Atlas Festival back under such challenging conditions?
Vlad Yaremchuk (VY): I still can’t believe that we’ve announced it, because Russians are bombing the country every other day and the [power] blackouts are back. But it was important for us to run the festival. We wanted to make sure we could make it safe to a degree we are happy with, where we wouldn’t be putting people in danger, even though that’s an incredibly relative term here. The festival will be held at Blockbuster Mall, which has the largest certified bomb shelter in the whole country.
It has an underground parking that is bigger than 50000m2, which can hold well above 100k people and that would be our shelter, which is a must for a festival in Ukraine. Our maximum daily capacity will be way smaller than what the shelter can fit, so we have the confidence that we can evacuate people quickly. It’s still a big challenge to organise; like every festival, we have safety and security procedures, but we hope we never have to use them.
With blackouts, curfew, air alarms and the constant threat of Russian aerial attacks, it’s not easy. We will close at 10 PM every day, which means everyone has time to get back home using public transport by midnight, when the curfew starts. We’ve also had to schedule stage times to finish by 9.30pm, to give us 30 minutes of emergency time, in case there’s an air raid alarm at any point, which might eat into set times. We’ve told artists they need to prepare two set lists – one for a normal set and one in case it has to be truncated due to air raids. Obviously, we hope that if there is an air raid alarm, it won’t be because of an attack on Kyiv, but even if nothing is flying towards Kyiv, just the fact that that alarm is there means we need to evacuate everyone and wait until it’s over.
“We’ve told artists they need to prepare two set lists – one for a normal set and one in case it has to be truncated due to air raids”
What’s the demand for live music like among Ukrainians?
VY: As previously reported in IQ, there have been shows attracting 10,000 people at a time, which shows just how strong demand is for live music here. I hope that our festival can set a precedent because music has been active here from the very moment that it was possible. There are so many concerts in Kyiv and Lviv, there are festivals happening, even though they are smaller. There are small events happening even in the frontline cities because people there also deserve to have access to culture and live music.
All these shows and festivals raise funds in one way or the other for the army and humanitarian causes, but on the morale side, these shows unite people. We hope the festival will let us show to the world that music is happening here, we want to show that we are ready to welcome people and artists no matter what. Of course, coming to Ukraine now is not your normal, usual trip to make, but if you are an artist and you do come, you get the most hospitable reception and the most grateful, inspiring audience you can imagine.
International acts have performed here – Bono came, The Tiger Lillies have played a few times. GusGus and IAMX played Lviv. [Drum n Bass producer] London Elektricity and a lot of his peers came, but none of these shows were noticed outside of Ukraine enough to highlight the fact that we are ready to welcome artists. We hope to show people that it is safe enough to visit cities like Kyiv, there are risks, but we’ve learnt to manage them here. The demand and the infrastructure are all here. Acts can go to Lviv if they are particularly worried, it’s close to the Polish border, so it’s an easier trip and it is safe enough there. We consider Kyiv safe to come as well, as long as you follow the basic safety protocols.
“People have this picture that Ukraine is all ruins, so normal life isn’t possible here – but it’s only partially true”
Of course, you would never want to put artists at risk, right?
VY: Of course. One of the main challenges is that agents might not be interested in these shows because we can’t offer the same financial guarantees as other countries in Europe, and we can only insure so much. But people have this picture that Ukraine is all ruins and everything’s been bombed, so normal life isn’t possible here – but it’s only partially true. Due to the sheer size of the country, you get varying degrees of safety and normality. I’m hoping we can get that across. We need to normalize coming to Ukraine now, not after the war ends.
What’s the infrastructure like for concerts?
VY: Most of the venues that go up to 10,000 capacity have been working for some time now. Our 1,100-capacity Atlas club reopened in September 2023, but others have been open for even longer than that. Most of them have a shelter, either in the venue itself or very close nearby. Since the winter of 2022-23, when there were many blackouts, most of the venues now have a generator for backup power. And it’s going to be the same for our festival. This became the new normal for the event industry here, we have adapted to all these challenges so that we can keep going, raise money and give people great music and a feeling of unity.
“We have a stage in our shelter, which will work no matter what, even if there is an air raid alarm”
Tell us more about the festival.
VY: We will have two big open-air stages, including the main stage. Then, there are three stages inside the mall itself, two of which would be free for everyone so you can check them out even without a ticket. And last but not least, we have a stage in our shelter, which will work no matter what, even if there is an air raid alarm, so people would get music even when there is a threat and everyone’s been evacuated.
The shelter is very easy to reach from every stage and point of the festival, there are multiple wide entry points, so we can get large numbers of people in very quickly. We are aiming at about 25,000 daily capacity, which is way less than what Atlas usually is, yet larger than other festivals of 5-10k cap that happened after the invasion started. But we wouldn’t be doing it in Kyiv and with a capacity like this if we didn’t have this venue with its shelter and could not ensure quick evacuation.
A big focus for us is to make the festival inclusive and comfortable for people with disabilities, the number of which rose significantly because of the war. They can come to the festival for free and we have ensured they get the best experience possible with specially-equipped taxis available for transfer to and from the festival, a great view of all stages, comfortable navigation and all the support they might need.
“We want to make sure we can help the country in a noticeable way that justifies doing such an event in such circumstances”
And then, the part that is as important for us as safety is fundraising. We want to make sure we can help the country in a noticeable way that justifies doing such an event in such circumstances. Our main goal is to raise at least UAH 100 million (EUR~2.3mln) for the army and also raise significant funds for various humanitarian initiatives and we hope to raise even more than that. Everyone will be involved in the process – our sponsors and partners, responsible businesses, our artists and our audience. For each part of the festival, we think how it can contribute to reaching our goal. This is the only right way for us to do it.
On the artist side of things – it is, of course, a predominantly local line-up of 70+ acts of all sizes, but we are also lucky to have some international names. Our main international headliner is Sharon Den Adel – leader of Within Temptation. She was in Kyiv earlier this year to shoot a music video for the song they released with a Ukrainian artist, so she was comfortable with the idea of playing a show in Ukraine.
We are truly grateful for that kind of trust. She is a big artist and she is leading by example and hopefully, more acts follow in her stead. She won’t come with a band, instead, she’ll do a unique programme consisting of the band’s hits with an orchestra and a choir. This programme was created for the festival and will be played for the first time, closing off the festival. It is created by a young Ukrainian composer Maria Yaremak. It is not an easy performance to put together in the current situation, but I guess we just have a knack for challenging ourselves ever more, otherwise, we wouldn’t be doing the festival in the first place. We’ll also have the Lithuanian act Beissoul & Einius, who played multiple editions of our festival, including the first and also a Japanese act called heavenphetamine.
“Music for us is an act of defiance”
How important is music to the Ukrainian people?
VY: Because of the war, people here feel life way sharper. The stakes are so high that whatever experiences you have, they are sharper, for better or for worse. Music events here are not for entertainment – there’s a deeper purpose to them. They foster a feeling of unity, they facilitate the development and re-discovery of our culture, which Russians are trying to erase. They raise much-needed funds. They give people a break and bring them together, reminding them that we are all in this together. We shout the lyrics together and the music flows through us. Music helps us live through this crazy reality we all share. Whether the songs are about sorrow, the feeling of unity, or the energy to continue the fight and maintain your resilience, they are all needed. So the concerts that happen now are unlike any other.
But also, zooming out, music is so very precious to us. We now sing the same songs that the generations of Ukrainians that came before were singing and they ring differently now. Those generations were dreaming about having an independent country where we could finally just live peacefully in our own land. And now we have the privilege of living in that country, but we have to protect it. So music for us is an act of defiance. It’s about who we are and who we strive to be.
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Ukraine’s Atlas Festival to return amid war
Atlas Festival, Ukraine’s largest music festival, will take place for the first time since the Russian invasion.
Rebranded as Atlas United, the festival will take place in the capital city of Kyiv from 12–14 July after two years away.
Over 70 Ukrainian artists have been booked to perform, as well as support from international artists, whose names are yet to be revealed.
Domestic artists on the bill include Boombox, Zhadan i Sobaky, Bez Obmezhen, Dantes, Kurgan & Agregat and Artem Pivovarov, who recently sold out three consecutive nights at the 10,000-capacity Kyiv Sports Palace.
The acts will perform across six stages that will be installed in Kyiv’s Blockbuster Mall, with the underground car park to be used as a shelter in the event of an air siren.
Atlas United is being organised with the goal of raising at least 100 million hryvnias (€2.3m) to purchase drones and support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Over 70 Ukrainian artists have been booked to perform, as well as support from international artists
Ticket prices for the event, which is in partnership with Ukraine’s Monobank, range from UAH 1,400 (€32) for one day to UAH 3,250 (€74) for three days.
Prior to the Russian invasion, Atlas was held in Kyiv every summer between 2015 and 2021, with the most recent edition drawing 600,000 attendees.
One of Europe’s biggest live music events, its past performers include Liam Gallagher, The Chemical Brothers, Placebo, The Prodigy, and Kasabian.
In the months following the invasion, the team behind Atlas focused its efforts on fundraising events such as Goodbye Russia, which raised almost two million hryvnyas (€67,352) for the armed forces, and the Save Ukraine – #StopWar global charity telethons.
Last year saw the revival of Ukraine’s live music scene, with Vladyslav Yaremchuk (programming director of Atlas Festival and partnership manager at Music Saves UA) telling IQ last August that “concerts are happening everywhere in Ukraine”.
Despite a burgeoning live music scene in Ukraine, execs such as YOUROPE’s Christof Huber have encouraged the international live music industry not to forget about the ongoing war.
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‘Concerts are happening everywhere in Ukraine, even in trenches’
Vladyslav Yaremchuk is the programming director of Atlas Festival – Ukraine’s biggest music festival, which had more than 600k+ visitors in 2021. He is also the partnership manager at Music Saves UA – a humanitarian initiative that harnesses the power of the international music community in order to provide humanitarian help to Ukrainian civilians.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he had to abandon his regular work in order to fully focus on doing projects that help Ukrainian civilians and spread the Ukrainian message far and wide across the word.
Here, as part of a New Bosses 2023 interview, he tells IQ about the realities of living and working in a country under siege.
IQ: The lives of everyone in Ukraine have been massively disrupted by the war. Is anything taking place in terms of live music, or is it too dangerous to organise large gatherings of people?
VY: Live music, stand-up, theatre are all alive and well. We even had a first couple of small festivals, one in Kyiv and another in Lviv just last week. You have to take care of safety, make sure there is a shelter that can fit everyone nearby and that everyone knows where to go. Curfews are a big factor and will rain one going forward. Kyiv curfew is midnight till 5 am for example and events have to wrap up by 10 pm. Events are very needed to keep people’s mental health and morale intact. They unite people and every single one serves a purpose – they fundraise for humanitarian or military needs.
“It’s time to get more artists and all kinds of people to come to Ukraine to experience what is happening here first-hand”
As time passes, news coverage about Ukraine is slipping down the order of priority in other countries. What can the live music community do to keep helping the people of Ukraine?
We need to see each other and talk to each other. Ukrainian people and artists need a platform that will give them a chance to reach people and tell it how it is straight into people’s eyes. It’s also time to get more artists and all kinds of people to come to Ukraine to experience what is happening here first-hand: to support people, to give charity shows, to then come back home and share their own personal experiences and perspective.
We need to keep the connection strong as time isolates Ukraine from the rest of the world, because what is happening is too extreme and tragedies are happening on a daily basis, people are tuning out. The tragedy needs to be bigger every time so that people outside of Ukraine care like they used to. People need to understand what is happening here and not take their information just from the news or media, but from the people who are living through this and from those who came here to see it with their own eyes.
If you want to help, but don’t know how – just simply reach out to me and we will see what we can do together. At Music Saves UA we collaborate with venues, conferences, festivals and artists to make a real difference and we always try to find an individual solution that would work best, all we need is people willing to support us and together, we will come up with something great.
“I’m sure if we didn’t do it we would not survive as a company since our last festival would have been in 2019”
You say that 600,000 people attended Atlas in 2021 – can you tell us more about the festival, its headliners and how you achieved such a high total of visitors?
We were lucky to be pioneers when it comes to organising a festival of such scale in Ukraine. We started in 2015 and the festival was growing faster than we could keep up. The population of Kyiv and Ukraine are also big, we had a huge domestic audience we could work with and even in 2021 despite the crazy number of visitors, we had so many people in our target audience who never came to the festival. That’s even without mentioning the international audience which we were only starting to attract.
It was 2019 when we finally managed to put down roots deep enough that will ensure that the festival will happen this year and the year after and two years down the line, it was a privilege we haven’t had before. We also made a festival for everyone – so much different music, so much space, so much to do apart from the music itself. You had a lot to do and experience no matter your age and so it was a festival for everyone. We were also on very good terms with our sponsors – we were a one-of-a-kind platform and so they were ready to back us financially and that was essential, since our ticket sales alone wouldn’t let us grow nearly as much.
We also taught our sponsors to do something special, to generate memories and experiences for the visitors instead of just trying to have their name on every corner of the festival and that’s it. Basically, it was a lot of passion, hard work and of course, sheer luck. Things were looking great for us in 2020 – we secured Twenty One Pilots, the biggest act at the festival yet and had very exciting prospects for 2021. Then came Covid and everything came to a screeching halt. We were exceptionally lucky to pull off a festival on 2021. I’m sure if we didn’t do it we would not survive as a company since our last festival would have been in 2019.
“Concerts are happening everywhere, even in frontline cities in shelters, even in trenches”
Ukraine pioneered the idea of vertical concerts during the pandemic. What impact is the lack of concerts and arts events having on you and your fellow citizens?
Like I’ve mentioned earlier, the concerts are very much happening and play a very important role. Since we don’t have many international artists coming to Ukraine the local scene is thriving, especially amidst the renewed interest in everything Ukrainian. The capacity to innovate and adapt is also insane, but it’s because there is no way we can abandon music and culture. It’s needed more than ever amidst the attempt to erase our very identity. So it’s a cultural renaissance in a way with daily explosions and deaths as a background.
People often bring up the phrase “when guns roar, the muses are silent”, but I don’t believe it applies to reality, not in our case, nor historically. Of course, in the first few months, everything went dormant, people couldn’t even listen to music or write it since our we all sought to survive. But now the concerts are happening everywhere, even in frontline cities in shelters, even in trenches to support those who we thank for being alive. And these are some of the most raw, special concerts since we are all living through this intense experience. It brings us together and helps us prop each other up and keep working and keep supporting the military and each other. It’s quite fascinating and I wish people outside Ukraine could see and experience this more, but also realise that it’s our defence mechanism, an adrenaline rush in response to being subjected to literal genocide.
“We have the first proper festival taking place with a couple thousand people”
How long, post-war, do you think it might take for Ukraine to rebuild the infrastructure needed to host concerts and festivals?
It depends on what you mean by infrastructure. Many venues are working, we should be opening our Atlas venue in autumn for the first time since 24 February 2022. We have the first proper festival taking place with a couple thousand people focused first and foremost on the charity aspect, while also giving a lot of the new artists their biggest live performances so far.
International artists are coming to do charity shows, we just had The Tiger Lillies who dedicated an album to Ukraine. UK’s London Elektricity came to play a set in July and others are coming. I hope this trend will continue and we will certainly be inviting those who are ready to come as it’s very important. But it’s all a very different way of functioning, I can’t imagine when things will be “normal”. This war is far from over, we are learning to live with it, to do festivals amidst the drones, missiles and alarms and looking for ways how can they be as useful as possible. It’s not the time to think about business, big tours or huge festivals, we don’t have that privilege.
You and your colleagues have all had to pivot in your careers since the war broke out. But how are people who remain in music managing to fund their work?
It depends. Grants and outside funding play an important role. For example, Music Saves UA, the humanitarian fundraising initiative I work for right now, can exist and pay me a salary thanks to the grants and allows us to focus on saving lives without worrying about making ends meet. It also makes sure 100% of what we raise on spent on providing help instead of operational costs or salaries.
For the Atlas Festival team it’s a lot more difficult. We tried to keep paying our sizeable team for as long as we could, but eventually we had to “freeze” the whole operation as we are simply not making any money. All we did since the invasion was charity projects which enabled us to pay those who were involved from the sponsor money. Now we work on a project basis, if we can find funds to put on a big charity event while also getting a chance to employ a part of our team and help them financially for a couple of months, we do it. But until then most of us are doing work on the side.
In general, as long as people can put bread on their tables they are content and focus all their efforts on doing something useful. There’s no “music business” as such here anymore. Everything operates on grants, government support, etc, no one is pursuing big profits, it’s about sustaining yourself and your family and helping the country.
“It’s simply exhausting to live this reality”
Your daily life is unimaginable for people who have not had to experience war. What’s the most difficult aspect of your current situation?
I feel like a lot of us are sugar-coating things because we feel like people outside of Ukraine are not ready to face the reality of what’s happening and what we have to live through – it doesn’t really register because it’s that extreme. It’s simply exhausting to live this reality – and that’s coming from a person who lives a very privileged life compared to those who are sacrificing their lives for us and the rest of the free world on the frontlines.
These last few months have been mentally challenging. In May, Kyiv was attacked every night with drones and missiles, literally hundreds of them. People simply couldn’t get sleep, and that accumulates with time. Then Russians proceeded to attack less protected regions and every morning you wake up to another tragedy in one or two of Ukraine’s big cities with dozens of civilians dead, murdered in their homes. And then you see how that’s just become normal for the world.
Then Russians blew up the Kakhovka dam – a case of genocide, a war crime of unimaginable scale amidst dozens of war crimes every week, and then we saw a lack of a proper response from the world, which disillusioned a lot of us.
Media was trying to both-side their coverage which reminded a lot of us of MH17 coverage. It made us physically sick to see this and see how there was no adequate response from the world, which only emboldens Russia to do worse things with impunity. I have a little box in my corridor with documents, cans of food and water. The whole country was preparing for nuclear sabotage at ZNPP after the Kakhovka dam explosion.
It’s an overwhelming feeling of injustice that we feel here. The democratic world is one of the reasons why we are still alive and exist, yet at the same time, so much could have been done and can be done, but it’s not being done and the price is in human lives. I can’t imagine what our military feels when they see the world’s hesitancy to really put an end to this. Ukraine needs more weapons, it’s as simple as that. It’s an uncomfortable fact for people who don’t know what war is and lived for decades in countries that were safe.
“Music was never out of politics, that is simply impossible”
We can keep raising money for humanitarian needs forever, but it treats only the consequences and does nothing to stop the very reasons – Russians are killing our best every single day and they only understand power in response. Hesitancy and appeasement only embolden them to keep going and outlast the free world’s will to help us till this is over.
We need tougher sanctions as we see that Russia is producing missiles and drones in quantities enough to shower us with them non-stop. Putin is showing his commitment to this war, but Russian propaganda and meddling in politics immobilised the world. This conversation needs to be normalised. It needs to happen in cultural and music circles. Music matters and it plays a huge role in this. Music was never out of politics, that is simply impossible. You either stand for what’s right or let those who are ready to use brute force and propaganda to take over.
We are exceptionally grateful to our allies and the UK especially as they have been leaders in terms of mobilising military and political support. You can’t imagine how much love there is for the UK for that reason. And don’t get me started on how supportive regular people are, it’s heartwarming and it keeps us afloat mentally knowing we are not alone and so many people genuinely care. It’s the reason why we are still alive and live in a country called Ukraine. But at the same time, we are not seeing an end to this, because there is a lack of confidence in big politics that enabling Ukraine to win is the only right thing to do and it has to be done now, not later. It sometimes feels so useless to tell people about how we are preparing to rebuild the country and live a bright future when that future is in no way secured yet.
Where might people be able to meet you in person during the remainder of 2023?
I haven’t left Ukraine since February since the rules for obtaining the temporary permission to leave as a male from 16-60 have been changed. Hopefully, I will be able to travel soon again since nothing works better than speaking to people face-to-face and mobilising support that way. I had to write a lot of emails and be a part of many online panels. I appreciate the conferences that accommodated that and made it possible.
Meanwhile, the Music Saves UA team is currently on a festival tour through Europe, where they talk about Ukrainian music, culture and the current state of things, and raise money for humanitarian help. The results are great and it’s good to see that there is still so much willingness from fellow festivals to join our cause. If things work out, I hopefully will attend Reeperbahn and any other conferences that will be kind enough to invite me. But hopefully ESNS, ILMC (I missed it two times in a row due to visa and documents, so hopefully the third time is the charm) and all the other staples.
“My hope is that the music industry and community will continue to support us while we are fighting for our freedom”
As a New Boss, in normal times is there anything you would change to make the music industry a better place?
It’s tough to think of “normal times” right now. In many ways, I feel rather removed from the industry and feel like I missed a lot and barely know how it operates post-Covid since we went from Covid straight to war here, and that changed everything. I haven’t had a chance to work on the festival for a long time, I don’t know what the fees are, who represents who, or what the crazy new contract shenanigans are, as my work is very different now. My hope is that the music industry and community will continue to support us while we are fighting for our freedom and will be there for us once the war is over.
Ukrainian music professionals worked a lot in the last few years to put Ukraine on the map, to integrate it into the European market and it was going well. Hopefully, the world saw our resilience, our willingness to stand for what we believe in, our love for music and our ability to keep it going no matter what and would be willing to help us create a strong bond with the rest of the world.
I want to see Ukrainian music being welcomed everywhere and to see artists from all over the world willing to come to Ukraine and use music as a means to help and make a difference. I hope there will always be space for the music itself, for the passion of the people in this beautiful community, and for the willingness to stand for what is right using your platform amidst all the business stuff, profits, acquisition and mergers. This is a very human-centric industry and community and I hope it stays as such, because when I see how willing people are to help us and others it gives me the capacity to keep going and it is the reason why I love my job and cling to it so much.
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Ukraine’s Atlas raises 2m from ‘Goodbye Russia’ event
Ukraine’s biggest music festival has raised almost two million hryvnyas (€67,352) for the armed forces, from an online event titled Goodbye Russia.
Atlas festival would have taken place in Kiev last week (6–10 July) but due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country, the event wasn’t able to go ahead.
In lieu of the festival, the organisers held an online ‘festival show’ with the aim of raising UAH2m for 50 portable, solar-powered power plants capable of charging devices and equipment in the field.
According to an announcement, 40 power plants have already been collected by the military.
The organisers of Atlas festival have been increasingly active in raising money for relief in Ukraine
Artists including Fatboy Slim, Verka Serduchka, Dantes, Wellboy, Oleg Skrypka and KOLA were among the guests of the broadcast, which was streamed for over four and a half hours on YouTube, Megogo Live and Action TV on 10 July.
Alongside the event, cryptocurrency exchange Binance launched an NFT charity auction, in which the highest bidder wins a lifetime ticket to Atlas and proceeds go towards the power plants.
The organisers of Atlas festival have been increasingly active in raising money for relief in Ukraine, having organised two charity telethons and transformed its venue into a warehouse for supplies.
Donations can still be made here and the full stream of the Goodbye Russia online show can be watched below.
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Atlas Festival team plan second Ukraine telethon
The team behind Ukraine’s Atlas Festival is spearheading a second Save Ukraine – #StopWar global charity telethon this weekend.
The latest fundraiser is planned for 29 May – the Day of Kyiv – and is dedicated to the Ukrainian resistance. It will start simultaneously in Kyiv and the German capital, Berlin.
Artists including Okean Elzy, Tina Karol, The Hardkiss, Monatik, Beissoul & Einius, Antytila, Onuka and Alyona Alyona will perform live on a stage near the Brandenburg Gate. Kalush, who won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest for Ukraine earlier this month, will serve as special guests.
The event is aiming to raise funds for medical equipment for Ukrainian healthcare institutions, including the purchase of surgical C-arm X-ray machines. Fundraising will be conducted through the United24 global initiative, with all donations to be automatically transferred to the accounts of the National Bank of Ukraine, assigned to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
The two-hour broadcast will be screened by TV channels in around 20 countries
Political leaders, musicians, artists, public activists, actors, athletes and volunteers from all over the globe will communicate with the audience calling on to support Ukraine.
The two-hour broadcast will be screened by TV channels in around 20 countries, as well as on streaming platforms and social media. The broadcast will be available for viewers globally on the YouTube channels of 1+1 and Atlas Festival.
The key messages of the project are #Stoprussia, #StandWithUkraine, #StopWar, #SaveUkraine, #BeBraveLikeUkraine and #CapitalOfBravePeople.
The first telethon took place on 27 March in Warsaw, Poland, raising more than €1.2 million for the humanitarian effort.
Atlas Weekend, the largest festival in Eastern Europe, had been due to take place in July at Kyiv’s Expocenter with headliners Twenty One Pilots, Placebo and Alt-J, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Ukraine biz: “No concerts until 2023, at best”
Executives from the Ukrainian live music business say that concerts – both international and domestic – will not take place until 2023 at the earliest.
International artists including Bring Me The Horizon, Imagine Dragons, Louis Tomlinson and Jethro Tull have already cancelled shows in Ukraine, in light of Russia’s full-scale invasion of its eastern European neighbour.
At the time of writing, major acts such as Iron Maiden, Billy Talent, Black Veil Brides, Pixies, Disclosure, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Roisin Murphy, King Krule, Elderbrook, The Neighbourhood and Pete Doherty still have Ukraine concerts planned, though local promoters are doubtful whether they’ll take place.
Ihor Samosud, COO at promoter Virus Music – which owns Ukraine’s largest ticket seller Concert.UA and Kyiv concert venue Bel Etage Music Hall (cap. 1,000) – says there were “hundreds” of international shows scheduled in the next two years but “everything is now cancelled or postponed until 2023 at best”.
“We were looking forward to Iron Maiden’s first visit to Ukraine (promoted by Virus Music) and the second visit of Imagine Dragons (for which Concert.UA is the exclusive ticket seller), who are a favourite in Ukraine,” Samosud tells IQ.
According to Samosud, the company is currently helping clients and promoters communicate with ticket buyers until money can be refunded for cancelled shows.
Continuing a trend that started in the pandemic, the firm is also enabling clients and promoters to offer ticket vouchers as an alternative to cash refunds.
Samosud says he hopes this will help soften the financial blow for promoters, who were already out of pocket due to the pandemic.
“All Ukrainian promoters already have large financial losses associated with cancellations,” he says. “And this process will continue for a long time. Even after the end of the war, we will need a lot of time to restore our industry.”
Sergii Maletskyi, general manager and talent buyer at Kyiv-based promoter H2D, also believes that shows in Ukraine will be cancelled or postponed until 2023 and that many announcements are yet to come.
“I’ve said to all management not to make cancellations public at this stage because it will cause panic and we don’t need it at the moment,” he told IQ yesterday. “I’ve asked them to give us a week or two to focus on our safety. After that, we will be ready to manage cancellations, postponements and everything else.”
The conflict will not just impact shows in venues, with a summer schedule of outdoor events on sale across the country. Atlas Weekend, the largest festival in Eastern Europe, is due to take place in July at Kyiv’s Expocenter with headliners Twenty One Pilots, Placebo and Alt-J.
While Upark, scheduled for June and July at Sky Family Park in Kyiv, had previously confirmed a raft of western acts including Pendulum, Sum 41, My Chemical Romance, Gorillaz, Deftones, Iggy Pop, Slipknot and Frank Carter.
Venues, however, have been quick to post messages on social media, announcing closure until further notice, as well as information for ticket holders.
Caribbean Club, in Kyiv, posted on Facebook: “Due to the military invasion in Ukraine, we temporarily suspend work. We hope to return to normal life as soon as possible and our warm meetings at the Caribbean Club.”
Bel Etage Music Hall, also in the capital, posted on Facebook: “War. All concerts and events are postponed until victory. The tickets are valid. Glory to Ukraine!”
Though stages in Ukraine have fallen quiet, a number of venues are devoting time and resources to the military.
Arena Lviv, a 34,000-capacity stadium in western Ukraine, has tasked its catering team with cooking food for the country’s troops and have already prepared and delivered more than 2,000 dinners.
The stadium has also opened a centre for migrants who have fled their homes and need assistance finding a temporary residence.
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