Kraina Mriy: the festival Oleh Skrypka has run since 2004

Oleh Skrypka launched the Kraina Mriy festival in 2004 on Spivoche Pole in Kyiv and named it after a Vopli Vidopliassova song. Kyiv Post described the third edition, 7 to 9 July 2006, in numbers and stage names: about fifty musicians and bands from fifteen countries, a Lavra stage, a Green Meadow stage, a dance workshop, a theatre stage, a big stage for headliners and a Kobzar stage for solo performers of ethnic music. A masters’ alley led to the grounds, and admission was free. The singer Natacha Atlas headlined, and the French band Red Cardell presented the album Naire, recorded with the Ukrainian group Hurtopravtsi.

The festival runs in two seasons. The summer one is timed to Ivan Kupala, and the winter one takes place at Christmas, 6 to 8 January, in different cities. In January 2017 the winter Kraina Mriy ran in Kyiv and Dnipro at the same time. The programme includes a folk crafts fair, a book fair, workshops, a painting exhibition, a children’s meadow and regional food stalls. Ukrainian Wikipedia lists the Turkish band Baba Zula (2006, 2011, 2012), the Finnish Värttinä (2007), the Americans Hazmat Modine (2011) and Toumast from Niger (2014) among the foreign guests. By its count, musicians from more than thirty countries have taken part and the festival has drawn about a million visitors over the years.

In a 2009 interview with Radio Svoboda, Skrypka explained the idea this way: guests take part themselves, for instance in blacksmithing and pottery workshops. By his account the festival existed on its own, without state funding. He named 27 June as the date of the next edition.

In 2024 Kraina Mriy marked its twentieth anniversary. It ran from 21 to 23 June at the Hryshko National Botanical Garden. The organisers described it as a cosy family holiday and wanted to bring in more young people. The programme had Ukrainian and foreign musicians in several genres, a stage with ethno DJs, a children’s meadow with traditional games, a crafts fair, workshops and Ukrainian food areas. Children under ten entered free. The Kraina Mriy charity foundation, which Skrypka set up, held collections and auctions at the festival.

Almost a month earlier, on 25 May 2024, Skrypka marked his 60th birthday with a concert at Stereo Plaza, and the list of participants shows the circle of his musical partners. The stage held the NAONI orchestra, Vopli Vidopliassova, the children’s folk ensemble Zernyatko and the Indian folk dance theatre studio Nakshatra. Guests included Serhiy “Foma” of the band Mandry, Oleksandr Polozhynskyi, Yevhen Rohachevskyi, the Vopli guitarist, Taras Kompanichenko and Yuriy Zhuravel.

Skrypka’s joint stage work with Les Podervianskyi began back in 2000. For August 2017 the two announced a concert called Humanisty at the Roof venue in Kyiv, billed as a return after seventeen years.