In 1989, the first Chervona Ruta festival became a cultural revolution: Ukrainian song took the big stage despite surveillance by Soviet police and the KGB. The event became a precursor to Ukraine’s political independence.

Today, as our country defends its right to exist for the fourth consecutive year, Chervona Ruta resonates as a symbol of cultural resistance.

From September 17 to 21, the festival is being held in Lviv for the first time.

Its opening day took place at Zenyk Art Gallery (ZAG) — a milestone moment, as this marks the festival’s first collaboration with an art institution. For ZAG, dedicated to the development and promotion of Ukrainian art, the event reflects both trust and a shared fight on the cultural frontline.

On the occasion of the opening, ZAG hosted the conference “Culture, Recovery, and Solidarity”, bringing together artists, soldiers, cultural institutions, rehabilitation centers, and international partners from Poland and the UK.

The festival’s strategic partner is the Resistance Movement of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This partnership highlights how, in times of war, culture becomes not only a space for creativity but also a spiritual stronghold that unites and mobilizes society.

Among the speakers were: Maksym Kozytskyi (Head of Lviv Regional Military Administration), Myroslav Melnyk (Executive Director of the Festival), Serhiy Tytarenko (veteran, clinical psychologist, head of the Lviv Habilitation Center), Oksana Baranowski (CEO, Chervona RutaUK Foundation), and others.

Zenyk Art Gallery proudly hosts the festival’s first day in Lviv — preserving heritage and creating new meanings for the future.