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UkrFest «THANK YOU» in Prague

On June 1 and 2, as part of the UA Event Project “THANK YOU”, Prague hosted the first UkrFest “Gratitude of the World from the Ukrainian People for the Humanitarian Component of the Victory”, which we announced earlier. The idea of the Festival was to express gratitude to the Czech people and the people of other countries who have helped and continue to help people from Ukraine with humanitarian aid, moral support, shelter… To show that the people who took part in helping us did not do it in vain, that we are a decent people and are grateful for this help!
The organization of this two-day event involved not only representatives of the Assembly, but also Ukrainians currently living in Prague, whose employment relates to various fields of activity. A lot of work was done: organizing communication with the bands, developing a scenario plan, searching for a territory for the Festival, organizing a concert program and a fair, etc…

It was decided to hold the event on the territory of the open-air entertainment and educational park for children and adults, the World of the Mole (Krtkův svět).

A few days before the festival, we learned that there would be a thunderstorm on June 1 (the first day of UkrFest). More than 300 people (bands and solo performers) had already applied to participate, not only from Prague but also from neighboring cities, so it was very important for our team not to back down at this stage. The festival could not be postponed. Nevertheless, due to unfavorable weather conditions, the opening of the Festival took place an hour later on June 1.

June 1, 2024. The UkrFest festival was officially opened. The national Anthem of Ukraine was played. And the first words of gratitude were spoken from the stage. Viacheslav Sayenko, author of the UA Event Project “THANK YOU”, Secretary General of the Central Committee of the International Anti-Corruption Assembly, greeted everyone and thanked them for coming, for helping, for being with us. He thanked the Czech people for helping and continuing to help people from Ukraine with humanitarian aid, moral support, and shelter. Many more times words of gratitude were heard from the stage. We continue to say “THANK YOU” even now.

On the first day of the Festival, children aged 3 to 17 performed on stage. Their repertoire included both solo vocal performances and collective vocal and dance performances.

THANK YOU to the participants of the UkrFest Festival:

– The endowment fund «School from my Friends» (managers – Nataliia Shipovich, Victoria Piddubna, Galina Hilpert and Svitlana Chugueva).
The foundation’s performances included a school choir (children aged 7-15), ensembles (children aged 7-8, 12-15), dance groups, including children aged 7-14 and kindergarten children aged 3-6. Solo vocal and instrumental performances were also presented.
– VibeStudio Dance School (headed by Anastasia Shcherbyna) is a school of modern dance.
The festival featured 4 dance groups in the age categories of 3-6, 7-11, 11-13, and 13-15 years.
– Children’s theater «Art-Idea» (headed by Antonina Hrendash).
Children aged 3 to 14 performed a theatrical sketch “Alice from Wonderland” and a poetic composition “People of the Titans”.
– Vocal Studio «Veselka» (headed by Nataliia Ivanova), Hradec Králové. Hradec Králové. Hradec Králové.
– «Dreamers» (directors: Olga Bychko, Anna Stryzhakova, Nataliia Kornienko).
– CeHuPo – Centrum Humanitární Pomoci, z.s. Teplice, Czech Republic:
The vocal and choreographic studios Harmony and Motion Impulse (headed by Tetyana Samsonova) presented collective performances by children aged 8 to 17, and the musical ensemble Dream, led by Olena Ledvizhko, presented an instrumental number performed on guitars. We were also pleased with the children’s solo vocal performances.
– KDance (directed by Kristina Babilya).
The girls aged 8 to 13 presented to our attention the sports dance “Cheerleading” (a sport that combines elements of spectacular sports (dancing, gymnastics, acrobatics)).
– UAKIDSSCHOOL (headed by Anastasiia Chobotok).
Children aged 8 to 17 performed choreographic and theatrical compositions at the Festival.

On the second day, the baton was taken over by the adult participants of the festival.

The opening of the second stage of the Festival began with the Ukrainian national Anthem performed by Nataliia Ivanova, teachers of the School from my Friends school and Pavlo Bubryak.

THANK YOU to the participants of the Festival

– The ensemble of teachers from the School from my Friends school, whose students performed so well despite the weather conditions.
– The Kavkaz Ensemble (Prague), the main part of which consists of Ukrainians, performed oriental dance compositions. The artistic director is Muma Budyshcheva.
– Nataliia Ivanova (head of the Veselka Vocal Studio) performed the songs “Father’s Side” and “My Ukraine”.
– Anastasiia Revutska, the founder of Life in Motion Dance Studio in Prague, performed Tribal Bellydance, a style that combines folkloric dances with modern choreography.
– Khrystyna Darvay is a well-known Ukrainian singer, author of her own songs.
– Pavlo Bubryak – Poet and singer (over 180 original songs), composer, actor and Honored Artist of Ukraine, Chairman of the Association of the Ukrainian Community in the Czech Republic, founder and director of the Grand Orpheus music studio, co-organizer of the World Station Competition – Festival named after Kvitka Cisyk. Kvitka Tsysyk, People’s Hero of Ukraine, winner of many literary music awards, leader of the VIA “Constellation of the Carpathians”, with his charming performance of songs was able to calm the turbulent weather for a while and stop the rain.
– Serhii Shmatok, a virtuoso guitarist, Golden Guitar of Ukraine in the 90s, winner of Ukrainian competitions and international festivals, performed Ukrainian compositions on the accordion and wonderful compositions on the electric guitar for the guests of the Festival.
– The group «Syaivo» (directed by Halyna Velyka), an ensemble of Ukrainian women IDPs aged 35 to 75, performed Ukrainian folk songs.
– Verka Serdyuchka Parody Band Show in Prague entertained our guests and participants of the Festival with their performance of the famous and well-known songs of the legendary Verka Serdyuchka.

Not everything went well. According to the Festival’s scenario, 5 videos with the words «THANK YOU» from those bands that could not come were to be broadcast on the big screen. However, due to weather conditions, this was not possible. We consider them participants of the Festival, express our gratitude to them and invite you to watch the videos.

We keep talking: «THANK YOU». And with this word, each band and soloist received a Diploma of the Festival. Even if it is a small award, for many it is the beginning of the path in their achievements.

We say THANK YOU to the guests of the Festival who were able to visit our Festival despite their busy schedule and bad weather:

Inga Petryčka – deputy of Prague 22, candidate for the European Parliament elections from the RAZOM coalition. Member of the @KDUCSL representative office.

JUDr. Jiří Matzner, Ph.D., advokát

Andriy Kolesnichenko – representative of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic, First Secretary for Economic Affairs.

During the Festival, the awarding of the «Badges of Honor» – the «Gratitude of the World from the Ukrainian People for the Humanitarian Component of the Victory» – was also held. The award was given to the following people for their active volunteer work:
JUDr. Jiří Matzner. He and his team have taken in more than 500 refugees from Ukraine, provided them with housing and employment. Today, they are providing legal support to Ukrainian IDPs.
Serhii Shmatok – Frontline volunteer since 2014, he has performed along the entire front line for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 122 concerts.
Pavlo Bubryak – invests his own money and together with like-minded people buys medicines and food, and deliberately sends humanitarian aid to a specific hospital or platoon to a real commander. So far, four vehicles (jeeps, pickup trucks), two buses, dozens of Czech reconnaissance vehicles, etc. have been purchased and sent to the front.
Nadiia Novakova-Kontsevich – helping IDPs, organizing charity events in Prague.

It was not easy to organize such an event in such a short time, but thanks to a close-knit team, this idea was brought to life.

The organizers of the UkrFest Festival 2Gratitude of the World from the Ukrainian People for the Humanitarian Component of the Victory2, the International Anti-Corruption Assembly and the International Charitable Help Corporation, are sincerely grateful to the co-organizer Alla Pecherska, who took over the organization of the concert program.

We sincerely THANK our Moderators of the Festival Myroslava Marchenko, Victoria Horiak and Umar Bolat Temirov for their participation and holding our UkrFest «THANK YOU».

THANK YOU to the developers of the concert program scenario plan:
Alla Pecherska – co-organizer of the UkrFest Festival 2Gratitude to the world from the Ukrainian people for the humanitarian component of the Victory2, owner of the restaurant 2Only You2.
Myroslava Marchenko – Moderator of the UkrFest Festival 2Gratitude to the world from the Ukrainian people for the humanitarian component of the Victory2, actress.
Victoria Horiak – Moderator of the UkrFest Festival 2Gratitude to the world from the Ukrainian people for the humanitarian component of the Victory2.
And Nadiia Klymenko.
We are also grateful to Viktor Syrota, director, organizer of cultural and artistic events, producer, and Pavlo Bubryak for their advice and suggestions on the script plan, as well as for their support during the Festival.

We say THANK YOU to Vitaly Rishko (owner and founder of the Lyžování u Krtka school) for his help in finding the territory for the Festival, as well as for helping to create favorable conditions for the participants and guests of our event.
We would like to say THANK YOU to the entertainment and educational park for children and adults World of the Mole (Krtkův svět) for providing the territory for the UkrFest Festival free of charge. Special thanks to the founder of the park Josef Roušal.
We say THANK YOU to the «Vulyk» band for their help in organizing the electronic music accompaniment of the Festival.
We say THANK YOU to the «Artist» Hotel for the opportunity to stay.
We say THANK YOU to the restaurant «Only You» and its team for the opportunity to eat.

The beginning has been made…
And we will say THANK YOU more than once… New projects, new opportunities, new friends and partners are ahead…