The Kryvyi Rih Center for Contemporary Culture (KRCC) has announced the first edition of the KRYVBAZ electronic music festival, set to take place on June 27. The line-up for the one-day event features artists from Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv, and Berlin, with the festival’s primary goal being to develop the local music scene while introducing audiences to communities from other cities
About the lineup
In a comment to DTF Magazine, the festival team said that, when curating the lineup, they wanted to spark a dialogue between the local scene and the ‘broader European music community’:
‘It was important for us to bring together artists who represent different facets of today’s electronic music scene while sharing a common vision of music as a space for discovering new forms of dialogue and authentic creative expression. Another key principle was to bring together local, Ukrainian, and international perspectives’.
Kryvyi Rih will be represented by Levchenko, a Ukrainian DJ and sound artist, as well as a graduate of Kultura Zvuku, who ‘blends warm analog sound with contemporary electronic music to create emotionally rich and energetic sets’.
Kyiv is represented by Slava Lepsheiev, the founder and curator of Cxema, alongside morekhvyli — a multi-genre DJ ‘known for her hypnotic and multilayered sets that seamlessly blend atmospheric, broken, and experimental sounds’.
Techno producer, DJ, and OPUS founder Sept will appear as the festival’s special guest.
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About the concept
According to the team, the electronic music festival marks the next step in the development of KRCC’s creative ecosystem. The organizers have previously hosted an urban culture festival, a literary festival, as well as educational and art projects.
‘The music festival was the next logical step in that evolution. People often see Kryvyi Rih only through the lens of its industrial identity, but the city is far more complex, fascinating, and multifaceted. Through our projects, we aim to reveal this other side of the city — one shaped by people, ideas, culture, and creativity. For us, KRYVBAZ is another way to introduce Kryvyi Rih to a new audience and gradually build a new cultural reputation around the city’.
The team hopes KRYVBAZ will become one of Kryvyi Rih’s recognizable cultural brands and ‘a reason for people from Ukraine and abroad to discover the city’.
The name, which translates as ‘Kryvyi Rih Bazaar’, references the historic role of the bazaar as a place where people gather, meet one another, exchange ideas and experiences, and connect.
‘We created KRYVBAZ because we wanted to show that Kryvyi Rih is more than just an industrial city — it’s also a place where contemporary culture is taking shape and continuing to grow. In the context of war and constant uncertainty, music also becomes a way of being emotionally present, finding restoration, and strengthening connections between people’, KRCC CEO Kateryna Levchenko says.
In the future, the organizers plan to expand the festival by adding more stages, extending its duration, and bringing in more international artists:
‘We see this project as a sustainable platform designed to foster the contemporary musical and cultural landscape of Kryvyi Rih, and this first festival is just the beginning of a major journey’.
Tickets for KRYVBAZ on June 27 are available via the link. The event will run from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM, and the venue will be announced to ticket holders via email 24 hours before the start.
