What to Do in Kyiv This Weekend, August 28–30: Theatre, Film Festival, Concerts, and New Museum Projects

Premiere by Ivan Uryvskyi at the Franko Theatre, the Odesa International Film Festival, the first PROIAV Veteran Culture Festival, concerts by Latexfauna and Kler, and new museum projects — at the end of August, Kyiv will offer plenty of theatre, cinema, music, art, and socially significant initiatives. 

Here’s where to go on August 27–30.

Premiere of the play “Odyssey ~ Maeotida”

The Franko Theatre will host the premiere of “Odyssey ~ Maeotida,” a joint project of the theatre and the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine “Azov.” The playwright is servicemember and dramatist Oleksii Dorychevskyi, and the production is directed by Ivan Uryvskyi.

The play combines the plot of Homer’s “Odyssey” with real testimonies from the defenders of Mariupol. At its heart is the theme of return: the physical and inner journey home, back to oneself, one’s own memory, and one’s country. After the August performances, the production will also be staged in September and October.

Admission: UAH 50–3,000

Odesa International Film Festival

The 17th Odesa International Film Festival will take place in Kyiv this year, at the Zhovten and Oscar cinemas. From August 27 to September 4, they will screen Ukrainian and international fiction and documentary films, as well as feature-length and short films, primarily made in 2025–2026.

The programme includes competition sections, premieres, debuts, special screenings, and retrospectives. The international competition, in particular, features stories about women’s experiences in different countries and eras, while part of the national programme focuses on the war and its consequences.

Admission: UAH 160–1,650

PROIAV Veteran Culture Festival

The PROIAV Veteran Culture Festival will be held at VDNG for the first time. Its programme focuses on the contemporary veteran experience and on giving veterans the opportunity to speak about it in their own voices through art and personal stories.

The festival will feature theatre and literary stages, live music, stand-up comedy, film screenings, and open discussions about memory, respect, and the experience of military service. The event is intended for veterans, civilians, families, and various communities.

Admission: advance registration required

Latexfauna Concert

Latexfauna will perform an open-air concert at Feels Garden. The band, fronted by Dmytro Zeziulin, will play a programme featuring some of their best-known songs.

The announced songs include Surfer, Bounty, Cherkaschyna, and other tracks from the band’s repertoire.

Admission: UAH 1,000–2,100

The “Tiger Trappers” Play

The Golden Gate Theatre will present “Tiger Trappers,” a stage adaptation of Ivan Bahrianyi’s novel of the same name, directed by Pavlo Shpehun.

According to the plot, engineer-pilot and political prisoner Hryhorii Mnohohrishnyi escapes from a “death train” and finds refuge in a Ukrainian settlement in the Far East, where he is taken in by the Sirko family. The director has structured the play as a legend, combining Ukrainian folk-song traditions with elements of Japanese Noh theatre. The production premiered in June.

Admission: UAH 500–600

“Ivan’s Ark” Exhibition Project

The Ivan Honchar Museum presents “Ivan’s Ark” to mark the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence — a spatial interpretation of Ivan Honchar’s home museum. The private home and studio of the artist, sculptor, and collector became a place for preserving Ukrainian culture under Soviet pressure in the second half of the 20th century.

The exhibition includes objects from Honchar’s collection that were part of his home museum and later became part of the state museum collection. The project will run for three months and will have a changing structure: every two weeks, one of seven thematic exhibitions will open, ranging from “The Space of Freedom” and “Resistance. Creativity” to “House-Heaven. Icons.”

Admission: please check with the museum

Kler Concert

Kler will give a solo concert at Feels Garden. In her music, the singer combines pop, disco, and funk.

The programme will include “A Thousand Songs,” “On Vinyl,” “Above the Clouds,” and other songs by the artist.

Admission: UAH 800–1,700

“I Honour the Warriors, I Run for the Heroes of Ukraine” Race

Kyiv will host the annual memorial race “I Honour the Warriors, I Run for the Heroes of Ukraine,” launched in 2018 by representatives of the veteran and volunteer communities.

Participants will run distances of 2, 5, or 10 kilometres, wearing race numbers bearing the names of fallen Ukrainian defenders. Over the years, the initiative has spread to various regions of Ukraine and nearly 40 countries around the world, with the total number of participants reaching 72,000. The aim of the race is to honour the memory of fallen service members and support their loved ones.

Participation: free, registration required

“Berg & Mozart” Concert

The National Philharmonic of Ukraine will present two chamber works from different eras — Alban Berg’s “Lyric Suite” and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Divertimento No. 17.

The first half of the concert will be dedicated to Berg’s suite. Decades after the composer’s death, musicologists discovered musical symbols, quotations, and numerical codes in his personal copy of the score, connected to the composer’s feelings for Hanna Fuchs-Robettin. The second part of the evening will feature Mozart’s Divertimento No. 17.

Admission: UAH 250–600

DZIDZIO Concert

DZIDZIO will perform at Kurenivski Concerts with a programme of well-known songs performed live. The organisers have not yet revealed any other details about the set.

They describe the concert itself with the slogan “No songs — only hits,” emphasising the artist’s familiar repertoire.

Admission: UAH 850

“In the Radiance of Faith and Beauty” Exhibition

The National Museum of Decorative Arts of Ukraine is hosting “In the Radiance of Faith and Beauty,” an exhibition of sacred art dedicated to the 975th anniversary of the founding of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The exhibition features icons and embroidered artefacts from the museum’s collection. The central exhibit is the 19th-century icon “The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.” Visitors can also see two icons of “The Most Holy Theotokos with Saints Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves” and two embroidered altar cloths from the 17th century.

Admission: please check with the museum

Yuriy Wolf Concert

Yuriy Wolf will present his new rock and punk-rock programme “On the Edge of the Abyss” at Origin Stage.

The artist will perform live together with his band. The names of the songs and other details of the new programme have not been disclosed in the announcement.

Admission: UAH 550–1,000

All-Ukrainian “City of Masters” Fair

The All-Ukrainian “City of Masters” Fair will take place over three days in Taras Shevchenko Park. Folk artists and craftspeople from various regions of Ukraine will come to Kyiv, along with puppeteers, handmade-product makers, cheesemakers, fashion designers, and writers.

The fair will feature artisanal sweets, handmade toys, accessories and clothing, artworks, jewellery, wooden décor, rushnyks, and embroidered shirts. The programme will also include workshops.

Admission: free