Ukraine’s largest music festival returns for first time since war with Russia

Ukraine’s largest music festival, ATLAS, will take place for the first time since the Russian invasion.

Rebranded as ATLAS UNITED, the festival will return to Blockbuster Mall in the capital of Kyiv from July 12-14 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.

Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Ukraine’s armed forces. If an air siren were to signal the threat of a Russian attack on the festival, an underground parking structure will be available to shelter in.

Prior to its hiatus due to the war, which began in February 2022, ATLAS welcomed up to 600,00 attendees and had played host to performances from the likes of Liam Gallagher, The Chemical Brothers, Placebo, The Prodigy, and Kasabian.

In other Ukraine news, former Eurovision winner Jamala recently stressed the importance of artists to continue to be “loud and creative” in their attempts to keep attention on Russia’s campaign in the country.

“There are many wars now in the world and, of course, it is not easy to constantly keep attention on yourself so that people do not get tired of our war,” she told PA Media when explaining why she believed Ukraine “cannot afford” to boycott Eurovision over the controversial decision to allow Israel to compete.

“But that is our task, people who remain in Ukraine, people who are fighting, to be as loud and creative … this is the task of artists to find new ways of how to reveal and show their country.”

She went on to encourage Ukraine’s 2024 entry, Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil, to give as many interviews on the subject as possible, and “talk about the fact that the war in Ukraine continues”.

Jamala herself was placed on Russia’s wanted list last year for “violating a criminal law”. They allege that she spread false information about the Russian military and the ongoing fighting in Ukraine, after a law was adopted which banned such activity in 2022.

The war is the largest such assault on a European country since World War II. It is estimated to have caused tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties.

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