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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