UkrFest THANK YOU 2 in Prague
On August 24, the Second UkrFest THANK YOU Festival «Gratitude to the World from the Ukrainian People for the Humanitarian Component of the Victory» took place in Prague in the Park at the Chodov Fortress as part of the UA Event Project «THANK YOU». The festival was organized by the International Anti-Corruption Assembly (Assembly) and the International Charitable Help Corporation (Foundation) under the patronage of the Městská část Praha 11.
On this very sunny day (it was probably the hottest day in Prague in the last two weeks), our Festival UkrFest THANK YOU 2, its organizers and participants sincerely thanked all those who helped and continue to help the people of Ukraine who found themselves in difficult life situations due to the occupier’s aggression on the territory of Ukraine. Gratitude in the form of words, songs, dances…
The organizers of UkrFest THANK YOU 2 would like to express their sincere gratitude to the host of our festival, Dana Glebova. This wonderful woman agreed to host the concert, having learned about it 15 hours before the start. Her professionality, artistry, patience and resilience brought our Festival to a new level. We look forward to further cooperation with this wonderful woman.
After the welcome speech by the author of UA Event Project «THANK YOU», Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Assembly, organizer of the First and Second UkrFest THANK YOU Festivals Viacheslav Sayenko, the Director of the Foundation «CENTRUM humanitarian pomoci Ukrajině» Petr Oliva and his family were invited to the stage. Petro and his Foundation were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from our team, as a part of the Ukrainian people, for their public, volunteer activities and assistance to Ukraine since 2015: to the population affected by the occupier’s aggression, the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations on the territory of Ukraine, hospitals and schools. We are grateful to the people who do not stand aside and help those in need.
The guests of our Festival were Inga Petryčka, a member of the Prague 22 Municipal District, and Zuzana Böhmová – Deputy Mayor of Prague 11 (Sports, Culture and Digitalization) a representative of the Prague 11 Municipal District Office. By e-mail, our team received letters from representatives of the Prague 11 Municipal District Prague 1, Prague 2 and Prague 18 Municipal District Office with support and best wishes. We are grateful to the guests of the Festival for taking the time to come to our «holiday».
Since the date of our Festival fell on August 24, the national holiday of Ukraine – Independence Day, the words of congratulations to the people of Ukraine were heard from the stage…
Our participants of UkrFest THANK YOU 2 – vocalists, musicians, dancers, solo and collective performers – presented a variety of genres.
Maria Zalizniak presented to the guests of the festival her project «Renewed, united, integral, unified and invincible Ukraine», which was created with the support of the PromoUkraine association in cooperation with ethnographer Yurii Melnychuk and Nadia Vakulenko, head of the All-Ukrainian Center for Embroidery and Carpet Weaving in Reshetylivka, Poltava region. During the show, embroideries of several themes were demonstrated: Ukraine of the Past, Ukraine of Today, Embroidery for a Defender, Ukrainian Mother, and the symbol of «Renewed, Unbreakable Ukraine».
Continuing the excursion into the history of the national culture of our land, the «Vechornytsi» team performed modeling and choreographic performances with elements of Ukrainian folk dance and a show of ethnic Ukrainian costumes with the participation of the youngest talents. The young director Vira Bezzubenko, who danced at the Pavlo Virsky Dance School and studied at TODES, whose career includes many choreographic, modeling and theatrical productions, and who also sang at the Ukrainian Song Theater, performed at our Festival not only with her team but also solo.
The vocal and dance performances of Maria Mi, the author of the young project Eniomus of Ukrainian origin, made a mesmerizing impression.
The Eniomus project is a collection of songs in many languages and dance music in the style of Tribal Tech, where East meets West…
During her vocal career, Maria managed to hold three solo charity concerts in Frankfurt am Main and take part in the Dance with Ukraine charity dance festival in Berlin.
The duet with Maria was performed by Anastasia Revutska, a young talented girl who has been participating in competitions, festivals, charity events, fairs, musicals and performances in Ukraine and abroad since childhood. Over the past 2.5 years, she has performed in more than 40 events in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Estonia, and Slovakia. She is the founder of Life in Motion Dance Studio in Prague. Participant of the First Festival UkrFest THANK YOU, which took place on June 1 and 2 this year in Prague. Grace, plasticity, combination of folk dances with modern choreography, amazing voice and emotional performance of vocal and choreographic acts allowed the guests to plunge into the dance cultures of world art.
The national Ukrainian musical culture was also represented by Victoria Dudka’s performance of the songs «What a Moonlit Night» and «The Blackthorn Blossoms» on the Ukrainian folk instrument bandura. A duet of girls from Kharkiv, Maria Biloborodko (Laureate of international competitions, participant of the Voice of the Country contest, participant of concerts dedicated to the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kharkiv, participant of a charity concert in Germany in Mulhausen in 2023) and Valeria Abramenko, performed Ukrainian folk songs «Unharness the horses» and «Halya carries water» in their own arrangement. It was, surprisingly, very unusual, original and “youthfully” very modern.
Our glorious Ukrainian women from the group «Siaivo» (our elder members in the age range from 35 to 75 years), participants of the First UkrFest THANK YOU, once again delighted us with the performance of our folk songs.
The dance group Motion impulse, which is familiar to us from the First Festival held on June 1 and 2 this year in Prague, also responded to our invitation to participate in UkrFest THANK YOU 2. Together with their directors, Tatiana Samsonova and Veronika Pikovets, the girls came to Prague from Teplice for the Festival.
Maria Samsonova performed the musical composition «Forester» on the electric guitar.
On the stage of our Festival performed a beautiful young woman Tatiana Popovychuk, who came from Gliwice (Poland) to Prague, especially to participate in UkrFest THANK YOU 2. The vocalist of the cultural and artistic center «Suzirya», Irpin, Kyiv region, Ukraine, from 2009 to 2014 participated in competitions at regional, district, European and international levels. In 2013-2014, Tetiana was a representative of Ukraine from the Embassy of Ukraine at international festivals in Seoul, South Korea – solo vocals. In 2014, she made her first national performance in the Folk Music program. She also took part in patriotic concerts in support of Ukraine in the Czech Republic, Poland, and her native Ukraine. (Ed. note: it’s one thing to write an article about the singer’s incredible voice, it’s another thing to hear it)
The Czech-Finnish multi-genre violin fairy Heidi Johanna Vacek also took part in the Festival. Her unusual multi-level performance of compositions on the violin showed the ability of one person to break the stereotypes of creating musical works. Heidi enjoys playing at various events in the Czech Republic, such as weddings, graduation ceremonies, etc. She has played in churches in Hamburg and at art exhibitions in Zurich and Kassel. In addition to the violin, she also loves to play the bass guitar, so you can hear her on the streets of Prague. On her YouTube channel, you can see and hear cover versions of songs by famous artists such as Lady Gaga, Kaoma (Lambada), John Lennon, Taylor Swift, Pink Floyd and others. At our Festival, Heidi arranged for Anastasia Revutska during the demonstration of Maria Zalizniak’s project. She also performed two of her original songs «Time» and «Fairy song» in her solo performances.
The Festival’s concert program was somewhat unusual, touching on and intertwining performances of various themes from national antiquity to contemporary art.
All the participants of the concert program of UkrFest THANK YOU 2 were awarded with Diplomas of the Festival participants.
Throughout the day, the Festival participants were able to showcase themselves and look at others, communicate and make friends. The exhibition of embroidered shirts by Maria Zalizniak brought together the participants of the concert program, the fair, and the guests of UkrFest THANK YOU 2.
Handmade artisans were present at the fair on the territory of the Festival. Felted, knitted, beaded and crocheted handicrafts demonstrated the skills of our Ukrainian women. This proved that even far away from their native land they do not forget or lose their traditions and skills.
I would like to say a few words about some of our handmade women:
Galina is a charming woman who creates incredible masterpiece clay doll figures
Energetic and charming Alla knits and felts wool stoles, bags, sweaters, cardigans, skirts, mittens and hats.
Oksana weaves unique beaded necklaces.
During the Festival, the craftswomen held felting workshops.
Christina’s crocheted cute toys.
Our Festival guest Inga Petryčka is the owner of a popcorn shop-cafe «Pop Pause» in the center of Prague. She brought popcorn with a variety of flavors to our event.
The guests and participants of the Festival could also taste Ukrainian bohrach, kebabs and sausages prepared by the “Meat Czech” team.
Each of them was awarded a Diploma of Participant of the UkrFest THANK YOU 2 Fair.
The organizers of the Festival are grateful to everyone who helped to prepare, organize and conduct UkrFest THANK YOU 2. Special thanks to Vitaly Rishko, Head of the Department of the International Anti-Corruption Assembly in Prague.
Vitaliy is the owner and founder of the Lyžování u Krtka school. He is a first-class trainer who conducts lessons on the unique and only simulator in Europe for training in skiing and snowboarding.
Not everyone involved in the preparation of the Festival was able to attend the event. We say thank you to them:
Václav Volžík – Deputy Head of the International Anti-Corruption Assembly Office in the Czech Republic.
Edgard Moldovan – Assistant Head of the International Anti-Corruption Assembly Office in the Czech Republic.
Konstantin Golban – Chairman of the International Charitable Help Corporation.
Bohdan Alechko – Deputy Head of the Coordination Center of the International Charitable Help Corporation in Zakarpattia region and Head of Khust and Dragovo Children’s Help Centers.
Note: I believe that many people will support me (the organizing team, co-organizers, participants of the Festival). Not just a big, but a huge THANK YOU to Viacheslav Sayenko (author of UA Event Projekt THANK YOU, Secretary General of the Central Committee of the International Anti-Corruption Assembly. The idea and main organization of the UkrFest THANK YOU Festival «Gratitude to the World from the Ukrainian People for the Humanitarian Component of the Victory», author of the idea and active participant of the «Children for Children» action).
Our team says THANK YOU to all organizers, co-organizers of the Festival, all participants and guests of the Festival.
See you at UkrFest THANK YOU 3. We will inform you about the venue and date of the next Festival in advance.
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THANK YOU to everyone!