Pyvovarov, Jerry Heil and Khrystyna Soloviy: a festival of freedom plays in Warsaw for Ukraine's Independence Day

Warsaw marks Ukraine's Independence Day with PULSE OF NATION fest, a music festival of freedom and Ukrainian identity. It takes place on Saturday 22 August at the Letnia Scena Progresja.

The line-up and details were published by the organisers together with the ticketing service.

Artem Pyvovarov is billed as the headliner. Alongside him play Jerry Heil, Khrystyna Soloviy, DREVO and SadSvit — the full line-up has already been set.

What kind of festival this is

The organisers describe it as a space where a nation gathers to remind itself who it is: "despite hard times and the distance from home, the roots remain unbroken, the voice clear, and the shared rhythm keeps pulsing on every continent."

Why Warsaw

Poland has become home to the largest Ukrainian community in Europe, and music events for it stopped being a rarity long ago. But a festival built specifically for Independence Day and specifically around the idea of freedom is a different thing: not a touring show that happens to stop by, but an attempt to gather an audience that will celebrate a few hundred kilometres from home.

On the same 22 August, Brave! Factory opens in Kyiv — also on the eve of the holiday. Two events a thousand kilometres apart mark one date in two different languages: one electronic, the other sung.

As reported earlier by ONE//FM, Jerry Heil stepped onto the dancefloor this year with "Dark Disco" — a track only those in the Palace of Sports knew for two months.