Opinion festival

The first Opinion Festival was held in Sievierodonetsk, bringing together around 500 participants for 24 engaging discussions. The event was inspired by our partner, the Estonian organization Mondo, and their annual ARVAMUSFESTIVAL, which serves as a platform for uniting activists and fostering civic dialogue.

The second Opinion Festival in Sievierodonetsk brought together approximately 800 participants, who engaged in 27 discussions. The festival also featured a vibrant children’s location, attended by over 200 children. Speakers came from across Ukraine—including Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Kamianske, Lysychansk, and Sievierodonetsk—as well as from Germany, the Netherlands, and Estonia.

The third Opinion Festival gathered over 1,000 participants and featured 25 discussions and 12 additional activities, including exhibitions, performances, flash mobs, art installations, presentations, and more. More than 80 discussion topics were proposed. This year marked a milestone with a record number of international speakers.

The fourth Opinion Festival attracted over 12,500 online viewers and 450 offline participants. Over the course of six days, the festival hosted 29 discussions featuring 123 speakers. Many of the conversations reflected on the collective experience of the COVID-19 lockdown. A unique highlight of the festival was the offsite discussions held at the so-called Grand Canyon of Lysychansk—a quarry created through illegal coal mining. These sessions drew attention to this stark symbol of corruption and sparked dialogue about the environmental crisis in the region.

The fifth Opinion Festival brought together over 600 participants in person—despite rain and bad weather—and more than 2,000 people joined the event online.

We held 30 discussions, workshops, and interactive activities at seven open-air locations on Peremoha Square in Sievierodonetsk. Ukrainian and European experts addressed key topics including the war, ongoing crises, art, education, legislative changes, and digitalization.

The following day, around 80 participants gathered at an off-site location—the Pryvillia bridgehead—to discuss opportunities for tourism development in the Luhansk region. The conversation, held with government officials and experts, also aimed to challenge narratives imposed by russian propaganda.

The sixth Opinion Festival was held in temporarily occupied Sievierodonetsk in a hybrid format, combining both online and offline components.

The online discussions explored themes such as youth, theater, history, society, and propaganda, with the final session conducted in German. Meanwhile, the offline gathering took place in a shelter and featured three discussions and an art therapy session. A total of 81 participants took part in the offline event, sharing their thoughts, experiences, and visions.

The seventh Opinion Festival took place in Kyiv, bringing together activists, experts, and engaged citizens to reflect on meaningful topics and explore new perspectives. Held at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, near the iconic Motherland Monument, the event featured 8 panel discussions with 38 speakers, drawing an audience of more than 280 participants.

The eighth Opinion Festival gathered over 600 participants in the historic setting of St. Sophia Cathedral. All discussions focused on the theme “10 Years of War: Experience That Changes a Nation” and were held across three open-air locations. Throughout the day, participants explored the pressing challenges of war, including the needs of veterans, memorialization and historical memory, the realities of life in Ukraine’s east, disinformation and propaganda, children living under occupation, education during wartime, and the difficult decisions people face when returning to temporarily occupied territories (TOT) or combat zones.

The youngest visitors were not left out—together with specialists from the Zatyshno Space network, we created a vibrant children’s zone with interactive activities. Festival guests also enjoyed educational games, a photo exhibition titled “Chronicles of Evacuation” featuring the work of the East SOS team, a film screening and discussion, and a warm, atmospheric concert by the Prystani band.