Community Post Type: News

Rave UKraine – the historic event taking place in Liverpool and Kyiv simultaneously on Sunday 7th May – has announced its first wave of acts confirmed to be performing. 

 

Hot Chip, the acclaimed band from the UK, will be performing a DJ set at the anticipated, one-off event. Ukrainian DJ Mingulitka is also confirmed to be playing a set, alongside icons of electronic music DJ Paulette and James Lavelle. More acts to be announced shortly. 

The event is a first of its kind: a party taking place in two cities, at the exact same time, thousands of miles apart – both broadcast via a livestream to make one singular, unifying rave. Hangar 34 will host the UK rave, while Kyiv’s HVLV Bar will be the venue for the Ukrainian one. 

The acts announced for the Ukrainian rave at HVLV Bar are: Petya Cantrust, Jane, Raavel, Pledov and Lostlojik.

Both raves will be live streamed to the other, in partnership with a globally-renowned editorial streaming platform – so the music and dancing can cross borders in a show of unity and solidarity with Ukraine and its culture during the Russian invasion. 

Rave UKraine is part of the cultural festival ‘EuroFestival’, taking place for two weeks in May while Liverpool acts as Host City to Eurovision 2023. Tickets for Rave UKraine are available now via Dice FM / Resident Advisor. All profits from Rave UKraine go to Music Saves UA. 

The pioneering event was created by Birmingham Music Archive founder and social entrepreneur Jez Collins, who has worked in tandem with the teams from Open Culture, Music Saves UA, Culture Liverpool, CONTENT Liverpool, HVLV Kyiv and more to bring this historic event to life. Rave UKraine is also bringing together major figures from the music industry such as Caroline Prothero and Rich McGinnis who are supporting, collaborating and advising for the event. 

Rave UKraine organiser Jez Collins says: 

“Rave UKraine is an act of resilience and a party with a purpose. Uniting ravers and clubbers on the dancefloors of Liverpool and Kyiv, it is an act of solidarity and support and a rejection of Russia’s war on Ukraine, its music and its cultural identity. We’ve brought together two amazing line-ups in Liverpool and Kyiv and I can’t wait for us to dance together. Two cities, one rave.” 

Music Saves UA say: 

“Over the past year, we as Music Saves UA collaborated with music events: festivals, conferences, discussions, etc. Our main task, as a charitable initiative, is to raise awareness about the situation in Ukraine and promote Ukrainian music and culture as well as to raise funds for humanitarian needs in Ukraine. Thanks to the support of the music community, we have managed to evacuate over 20,000 people from frontline territories, provide help for more than 40,000 people and purchase and distribute more than 600 tons of food and other supplies. We are grateful to the entire Rave UKraine team for their trust in us and to the people for their support. Music matters and it continues to save lives.” 

Director of Culture Liverpool, Claire McColgan, says: 

“We just love how so many of our EuroFestival commissions are embracing the ‘United by Music’ theme, and none more so than Rave UKraine. It’s uplifting and joyous, but at the same time is incredibly impactful as so many Ukrainians strive for a much-needed sense of normality in these challenging times. I can’t wait to see the global dance community embrace this fantastic event which will raise much-needed funds for such a well-deserving charity.” 

Rave UKraine will take place from 4pm – 11pm on Sunday 7th May 2023 at Hangar 34 Liverpool and HLVL Kyiv. Two Cities, One Rave.

For tickets and more information on Rave UKraine: Dice FM

Africa Oyé have revealed the headliners for their 2023 festival taking place this summer in Liverpool.

The Saturday of the two-day free festival will see dancehall and reggae artist, Tanya Stephens close proceedings, whilst the Sunday will be headlined by Seun Kuti – son of the legendary afrobeat star, Fela Kuti – with his band, Egypt 80.

Following an incredible 30th anniversary year in 2022, one of Merseyside’s most picturesque green spaces will once again be filled with the music and culture of Africa, the Caribbean and the Diaspora, for two free days of live music, workshops, DJ stages, food stalls and a range of traders in the Oyé Village.

Seun Kuti is the youngest son of legendary Afrobeat godfather and political activist, Fela Kuti. As well as his unprecedented influence on music across the continent, Fela was prolific in his opposition to the corruption of Nigerian government officials and the mistreatment of Nigerian citizens.

At the age of nine, Seun started performing with his father and his band, Egypt 80, and continued to do so until Fela’s untimely death in 1997.

Seun, then only 14 years old, assumed the role as leader of the band and has ever since followed the political and social ethos of his father. Along the way, he began to add his own twist to Fela’s music, digging deep into various African traditions to reflect the continent’s struggles and cultures. He has since toured the world many times as Seun Kuti & Egypt 80.

About three quarters of the current Egypt 80 line-up consists of musicians that not only played with Fela Kuti, but often were arrested and harassed for their activism, alongside the founder of the Afrobeat movement.

Tanya Stephens has been lauded as one of Jamaica’s “most gifted songwriters” (Reggae Vibes Magazine), with her compositions receiving critical acclaim and comparisons to legendary names like Bob Marley.

Refusing to be limited by labels, Stephens expresses a deliberate intention to live outside of the box creatively and socially, and she covers the widest range of topics and expressions in her music.

Lauded as one of the “top female artists in Jamaica” by The Washington Post, Tanya speaks of partying, heartbreak, social change and human rights violations with equal comfort and dexterity from previously voiceless perspectives.

Boldly exploring social issues not often addressed in her genre, Stephens has urged fellow artists to be more socially responsible, and has regularly spoken out against the objectification of women and homophobia in dancehall lyrics and the promotion of bigotry. Her song “Still Alive” deals with discrimination against people with HIV, and was used in a television campaign dealing with the issue.

Oyé’s Artistic Director, Paul Duhaney, said “It’s fantastic to have two headliners for this year who have never played the festival before and who really know how to put on a show. Closing the days with a female reggae star as acclaimed as Tanya and then a performer of Seun’s lineage is going to be really special.”

Beginning over three decades ago in 1992 as a series of shows in the city centre, the Africa Oyé Festival has evolved into one of Liverpool’s most beloved annual events, attracting artists and attendees from across the world.

One of the most popular areas of festival, The Oyé Active Zone – which hosts free multi-arts workshops across the whole weekend – will return this summer, alongside a brand new Toddler Zone, catering for the youngest festival goers, and the acclaimed DJ stages Trenchtown and Freetown.

More main stage artists are set to be revealed soon, along with news on the festival’s Oyé Introduces programme which sees up-and-coming local talent showcased on the line-up alongside the international heavyweights.

The festival’s commitment to being ‘free and open to all’ also means that the Access Tent, British Sign Language on-stage translators and Access Viewing Platform will also all return for this year’s extravaganza. Those wanting to support the festival and help keep the event free and open to all and can do so by donating via africaoye.com.

​​This year’s Africa Oyé festival will take place on June 17th and 18th 2023, in Liverpool’s Sefton Park from 12:30pm til 9:30pm both days and entrance is FREE.

The National Lottery today announced that tickets to ‘The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome’ will be released on Wednesday 5 April at 10am. Hosted by AJ Odudu, this 90 minute outdoor show will be one of the events to kick-off the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in spectacular style, transforming Liverpool’s much loved St George’s Hall and the surrounding area into a massive party for the people.

Taking place on the evening of Sunday 7 May, this crucial part of Liverpool’s ambitious Eurovision host city plans will see thousands of tickets made available to the public for free*, thanks to The National Lottery.

While much of the content of the show remains a closely guarded secret, it promises to celebrate the unique partnership between Liverpool, Ukraine and Eurovision that will define this year’s contest. 

Audience members will be treated to a high energy show, the scale of which is even bigger than the European Capital of Culture Opening Ceremony in 2008. There will be a variety of musical performances, dancers, aerial performers and never seen before, state of the art digital mapping onto the 14,000 sq foot frontage of St. George’s Hall as well as many other surprises on the night.

Welcoming the largest crowd for any single Eurovision 2023 event in the UK, the show will feature musical performances from iconic Liverpudlians and Eurovision superstars as well as appearances from well-known faces from the world of music, sport and entertainment along with amazing local cultural and arts organisations. 

Tickets will be available for free* for anyone who is a National Lottery player here from Wednesday 5 April from 10am on a first come, first served basis, as a thank you for the £330M they have contributed to over 3,600 music and cultural projects in Liverpool alone. Those booking tickets will be required to confirm they have a National Lottery ticket that they can present on the day of the event.

Liverpool City Region is renowned for its famously warm welcome. So to ensure Eurovision delegates and invited guests from both Ukraine and Liverpool community groups feel the full warmth, a proportion of tickets will be made available to National Lottery players with a Liverpool City Region postcode** in an exclusive pre-sale on Tuesday 4 April from 10am.

Claire McColgan, Director of Culture Liverpool said, “This is set to be an incredible show and we’re delighted that Liverpool City Region residents are being given an opportunity to bag themselves a ticket for this unique event. It is promising all of the energy and magic of Eurovision, combined with Liverpool’s unparalleled musical heritage, blending the best that the UNESCO World City of Music has to offer with inspiration from Ukraine – it really will be an unmissable moment in our Eurovision journey.”

AJ Odudu, host for the event said, “I’m so excited to be hosting The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome. It is going to be an incredible show with some amazing performances and all of the wonder that Eurovision has to offer. I can’t wait to get the Eurovision party started in one of my favourite cities – come along and celebrate with us!“

For further details and to get tickets, National Lottery players should go to: 

www.bigeurovisionwelcome.co.uk

Look out for further details about the event including performances which will be announced over the coming weeks.

*£2 service fee per ticket
**Liverpool City Region postcodes are defined as:
All postcodes beginning with “L”
The following Halton “WA” postcodes: WA4; WA7; WA8
The following St Helens “WA” postcodes: WA9; WA10; WA11
The Wirral postcodes CH41 to CH49 and CH60 to CH63 inclusive

 

Liverpool is gearing up to host the UK’s most exciting music event of the Summer with WIMIN Festival on Saturday 29 July.

WIMIN Festival is a revolutionary event that will showcase an all-female lineup of renowned musicians, to shake up the festival scene, and dismantle sexism in music.

WIMIN Festival’s highly anticipated lineup of esteemed female musicians is set to be released from next month, as an all-female production crew works around the clock to deliver this flagship Liverpool event to music fans from across Britain.

Beyond the impressive roster of live performances across three stages, attendees will be treated to interactive activities, inspiring talks, and stalls from the best of the city’s female-founded independent brands.

In the UK, misogyny continues to permeate the music industry. A staggering 67% of women have experienced sexism in their music careers, according to a study by the Musicians’ Union WIMIN seeks to change these disheartening statistics by creating a platform for women’s voices to be heard and valued.

Festival Director, Holly Tulloch said,

“WIMIN represents a powerful shift in the music industry, creating space for female artists and professionals to take centre stage and shine as they rightfully deserve. Our goal is to challenge the status quo and foster an environment where women can thrive in the industry without limitations or barriers.”

WIMIN’s diverse staff  is made up of women with extensive experience and influence in the UK music industry. Through this expert network, the festival is offering mentorship opportunities for local women seeking to launch their career in music,  and aims to foster long term outcomes that extend beyond a single day.

Join the movement as a WIMIN brand ambassador by emailing WIMIN@fiercepr.co.uk and play a vital role in transforming the music industry. As an ambassador, you’ll enjoy insider knowledge, early access to lineup news, early bird ticket registration, and a toolkit to help spread the word. By supporting the festival and promoting its message of equality and inclusivity, you can contribute to a more equitable future for women in music.

Be the first to secure an early bird ticket, for just £13.50 while directly contributing to the running costs of the festival.

You can also contribute to the running costs, and be officially recognised as an investor in WIMIN, for just £20. Every penny will be re-invested by Scrapyard Studios to fund the festival. Limited availability; buy now to avoid disappointment.

For further details, visit https://scrapyardstudios.co.uk/wiminfestival.

To stay in the loop with festival updates, follow WIMIN on Instagram & Twitter and Facebook.

It’s the pre-party to end all pre-parties as details are unveiled of a unique, never-before-seen cultural festival which will take over Liverpool in May.

Taking place from 1-14 May, EuroFestival, is a first for a Eurovision host city, as it presents 24 commissions – 19 of which are collaborative projects between UK and Ukrainian artists – to showcase the uniting power of music and art.

One of the most ambitious projects, Soloveiko Songbirds, will see 12, large scale, light-up nightingales located around the city. Each songbird will be designed with unique plumage and accompanied by bespoke audio soundscapes to represent different regions of Ukraine. When viewed collectively, the Songbirds will make up a beautiful trail which can be followed by the public over the two-week festival.

Surrounded by thousands of sandbags to replicate the way statues in Ukraine are being protected from bombardment, the Nelson Monument, located in Exchange Flags, will host Protect the Beats. Within the structure will be screens premiering a new short documentary which highlights how live music and performance continued throughout last year, showing in one piece the protection of both physical and musical culture.

Working with 450 children from Ukraine and 450 children from across Merseyside, Land & Sky, Home & Dreams, will connect both groups of children in a simultaneous mass participation event. The kites – which the children have designed and painted themselves – will be flown in New Brighton and in four locations across Ukraine.

Tapping into the Eurovision’s United by Music ethos will be Welcome to Eurotopia – a ‘Supergroup’ made up of Liverpool musicians collaborating with Ukrainian artists. The group will perform a mix of original and existing music, in off-the-charts Euro-typical costume and glamour. Highlights from the line-up include Natalie McCool, Stealing Sheep, She Drew The Gun’s Lou Roach and Ukrainian artists Krapka Koma, Iryna Muha and Helleroid among many more.

Ukrainian Eurovision Song Contest winner and singer songwriter Jamala will also premiere an extraordinary and poignant new album of music, based around Crimean Tatar folk songs and accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra as part of QIRIM on 11 May .

With Fire and Rage is an immersive audio experience (accessed via QR codes located around the city) following the stories of artists on the frontline in Ukraine. Combining testimony with video, visual art, poetry and music, this smartphone adventure explores the powerful role creativity plays in the face of invasion. The journey leads viewers from music concerts in metro stations during air raids, to smuggling artworks out of cities as rockets fall, to puppet shows live-streamed out of bomb shelters. Set against the backdrop of Liverpool, public locations will take on new meaning as audiences engage with acts of cultural resilience and the stories of the people behind them.

The Unity Theatre will also act as a hub for various theatre performances engaging Ukrainian artists across theatre pieces, poetry and food offerings. Some of the commissions within this strand of the festival programme will be performed at partner venues including the Invisible Wind Factory. At Unity, Ukrainian theatre director, writer and actor Yurii Radionov will present UKRLAND: Stories from Ukraine, and the world premiere of the newly commissioned Maria, featuring five refugee Ukrainian actors from across the UK. The Invisible Wind Factory will be the location for the critically acclaimed contemporary media-opera Chornobyldorf.

Elsewhere, fans will be able to experience EuroCamp presents…, an LGBTQI+ focussed three-day festival in Chavasse Park featuring drag, performance, choreography, vogue, music, carnival, circus and more. Xpresia Festival, an underground counterculture festival, will be brought to life in several locations across Liverpool.

Storyville Live, will see the award-winning documentary series stage its first ever film festival at the Everyman Cinema, celebrating both Ukrainian and music documentaries, whilst HOME will showcase Ukrainian photographers examining the concept of ‘Home’ at the Open Eye Gallery, accompanied by a new collection of poetry from leading names. Over the course of the two week period there will also be Queerovision, an online commission showing digital video reportage of Liverpool’s Queer Fringe throughout the festival period, and The People’s Flag, a mass participation dance event. The Big Eurovision Read, is a national project with The Reading Agency choosing a shortlist of books inspired by the theme of ‘United by Music’.

In collaboration with Ukrainian curator Olena Kasperovych, the Dialogues project will be an evolving exhibition taking place at The Bluecoat. Ukrainian artist Alevtina Kakhidze will work alongside Liverpool-based artist Ellie Hoskins. Over the course of the Eurovision festival, prints and other artworks will gradually fill the galleries, charting the relationship between the collaborators. Sound of Freedom will also see large scale mural commissions from Ukrainian and UK artists placed around the city in high visibility spots. Late at Tate: The Spirit of Eurovision, National Museums Liverpool x Eurovision, and You’re a Vision! at the Everyman will also house activity across the two-week celebration.

The commissions announced today join a string of exciting projects already announced for EuroFestival including The Blue and Yellow Submarine Parade by The Kazimier, English National Opera does Eurovision, Izyum to Liverpool by Ukrainian artist Katya Buchatska and Rave UKraine.

EuroFestival has been made possible thanks to support from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, as well as The British Council, Spirit of 2012 and Arts Council England. The content partners are The Ukrainian Institute, the BBC, Liverpool ONE, The Liverpool BID and Royal Liverpool Albert Dock.

Director of Culture Liverpool, Claire McColgan CBE, said:

“EuroFestival is unique in every sense. No other Eurovision host city has ever curated a creative programme of such scale and scope, paying homage to the culture and heritage of both Liverpool and Ukraine in the most unforgettable way.

“Evocative, thought-provoking, joyous, celebratory, reflective, hopeful – these 24 commissions cover the whole gambit of emotions which will draw in the audience and make them really feel truly part of this Eurovision experience.

“It’s a programme of glorious brilliance, made by artists with open hearts and the will and commitment to present a show in less than five months, to reach across countries and genres and to produce this Scouse/Ukrainian mashup of brilliance.

“This is the spirit of Eurovision spilling onto our streets. Free for all. Accessible to all. Uniting us all.”

Eurovision Minister Stuart Andrew said:

“EuroFestival will be a spectacular showcase of artistic and creative talent from the UK and Ukraine in a wonderful collaboration. From installations and performances to 900 kites flown by British and Ukrainian children, this two week cultural festival will bring people together and create long-lasting memories for visitors to Liverpool as they get involved in the Eurovision Song Contest.

“This programme has Ukraine at its heart. It shows we are not only united by music but we are united in our support for our friends in Ukraine.”

Tetyana Filevska, Creative Director of the Ukrainian Institute, said:

“Over the past year the Ukrainian institute and British Council have run the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture which has been a great basis for EuroFestival.

“These commissions give a wonderful platform to celebrate intercultural cooperation and put Ukrainian culture and the Ukrainian language in the spotlight at a time when it is at threat. The more people know about Ukraine, the more we will be able to defend the free world and our common future.”

For more information on EuroFestival visit visitliverpool.com/eurovision-2023/eurofestival