A music festival is taking place again in Kiev: fans, artists and soldiers are united by the inevitable war

KIEV, Ukraine – This year, Ukraine’s biggest music festival struck a different tone. There were no international headliners, no huge concert halls and no hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Instead, the country’s most popular local artists graced the Atlas Festival stage last weekend in front of a still-enthusiastic crowd. The stage was set up in the parking lot of a shopping center, the only way to find a shelter large enough to accommodate the expected 25,000 people in the event of an air raid.

Carefree youths danced, flirted and sang along, side by side with hardened military commanders and famous singers who recited their lyrics with national pride. Music was the main goal, but equally important was to destroy the illusion that the capital was invulnerable to the bloody battles hundreds of kilometers away.

“Celebrations of this kind cannot be separated from life in the country. The country is at war. The core themes here should be related to the war,” said Vsevolod Kozhemyako, a businessman and one of the founders of the 13th “Khartia” Brigade, which is now part of the Ukrainian National Guard and defends the front line in Kharkiv.

“The people who are still young and do not join (the fight) should understand that they cannot live in a bubble,” he said.

And yet, in Kyiv, where the war is now in its third year, it feels like a bubble. While Ukrainian soldiers are killed and wounded every day on the 1,000-kilometer-long front line in the east, the capital with its lively bars and clubs provides a contrast.

Kiev is confronted with war again and again. Two weeks ago, a hail of Russian missiles destroyed a children’s hospital and a private clinic, one of the deadliest attacks since the large-scale invasion. Residents are struggling with power outages caused by Moscow’s deliberate destruction of Ukraine’s power generation at the height of a summer heatwave.

At every corner of the music festival – held for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022 – visitors were confronted with the inescapable reality that their country is locked in a bloody war of attrition. Festival organizers hoped to raise $2.2 million (2 million euros) to help soldiers buy supplies for the front lines.

In the mall’s underground parking garage, various military units, from Khartia to the 3rd Assault, offered interactive games to attract donations and potential recruits. A first-person shooter game let visitors hone their aim by shooting down virtual, shadowy infantrymen. In another corner, medics brandished severed plastic limbs and offered emergency training.

The festival concluded on Sunday with a highly anticipated performance by Serhii Zhadan and his band Zhadan and Dogs. Zhadan, a celebrated artist considered the poet of Donbass, recently joined Khartia.

“It’s just a little break, a chance to catch our breath,” Zhadan said a few minutes before taking the stage in front of a roaring crowd. “The most important things are happening over there, on the front lines.”

On stage, Zhadan began with one of his most popular songs, “Malvi,” or “Mallow.” The crowd sang along word for word. “But what can you do with my hot blood,” they chanted. “Who will attack us?”

18-year-old Viktoriia Khalis was excited about his performance. She had already been to the Atlas Festival in 2021. The difference was stark, she said.

“The main thing that has changed, unfortunately, is that the festival is now linked to donations,” she said. But she also felt more connected to her hometown. “I feel that this whole crowd is related to me. I feel a unity.”

She feared another Russian airstrike – a music festival with thousands of visitors would be a prime target – but said she couldn’t pass up the chance to see her favorite artists.

For Nadiia Dorofeeva, one of Ukraine’s most famous singers, every concert is different. “Before, when I went on stage, I only thought about whether I looked good, sang well and whether people got what they came for. But now I dream that there are no air raid sirens, I see people crying at my concerts.”

One of Dorofeeva’s songs, “WhatsApp,” is about a girl waiting for her lover to return from the war. “She washed the phone with tears/Like rainy glass” often moves listeners to tears.

Among the participants was Lieutenant General Serhii Naiev, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Ukraine.

“There are famous artists on the stage, they are giving their concerts and there are many Ukrainians there who are donating their money, urgently needed money for the armed forces of Ukraine,” he said.

“We know that our partners support us, but we also know that we ourselves could do a lot to be stronger,” he said.

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