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Experience 15:10 30 Aug 2021

How to organize a festival even in a village of 1000 residents: a solution from Cherkasy region

The Tovmatskyi Kurin historical and educational festival in a small village in the Cherkasy region with almost 1,000 residents unites Ukrainians around the belief in the national identity of our state better than national events. How do they do it?

Soviet propaganda has long erased Ukrainian insurgent history and replaced it with "communism" and "socialism." We can live in Ukraine from birth, but still don't know the names of those who fought for the independence of our country.

For the last 8 years, Ukraine has taken a confident course to revive the national spirit, but historical events aren't very popular. Activists of the small village of Tovmach in the Shpola united territorial community in the Cherkasy region, where the Tovmatskyi Kurin historical and educational festival has been held for 6 years, have decided to fight this.

Товмацький Курінь

Famous writers, artists, scientists, historians, researchers of Ukrainian history in the part of the national liberation struggle come to the festival every year. During 2016-2019, memorials to the Heroes of the Kholodnyi Yar, the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred, the Heroes of the Anti-Terrorist Operation were erected in Tovmach, a bust of Taras Shevchenko was installed, the Haidamatska Well was restored and the Ivan Liutyi-Lutenko People's Prize was established. There is also a festival group on Facebook, where all announcements are published.

"Glorifying the heroes who defended Ukraine in the 1920s"

Товмацький Курінь

A group of like-minded people, including activist Dmytro Vovk, journalist Natalia Storchak, educator Anatolii Kozlenko and the then head of the village of Tovmach Serhii Koval, united around interest and non-indifference to the past of our country. The village of Tovmach has become the center of the festival because of its history. The Chief Ataman of the Kholodnyi Yar Ivan Liutyi-Liutenko (Ivan Honta) and the prototype of the Black Crow from the novel of the same name by Vasyl Shkliar Ivan Chernousov were born here.

"The idea arose before the Maidan after the publication of the book Black Crow," says Serhii Koval. "We only then learned about our atamans, because before all this was forbidden. We met in Kholodnyi Yar with writers Vasyl Shkliar and Roman Koval and discussed this idea. In 2016, we laid the first stones of the memorial and held a festival."

Natalia Storchak recalls those who helped with the organization: "Our ideological team was joined by former district state administration heads Oleksii Pirohov and Serhii Struk, school principals Serhii and Lydia Osaula from Lebedyn, entrepreneurs Maksym Dotsenko and Viacheslav Kyshinko, and poet Serhi Tkachenko and other not indifferent people."

Товмацький Курінь

To hold the festival, like-minded people have created a public organization Tovmatskyi Kurin, which includes them and their friends. Currently, the NGO has 16 participants.

"The initial idea was to hold a festival and glorify the heroes who defended Ukraine in the 1920s," says Anatolii Kozlenko. "We wanted to tell people about the atamans because in our textbooks there is little about the war of the 20s. I watched them specifically but found little information about the heroes of Kruty. Not a word about the Kholdnyi Yar at all. Roman Koval and Vasyl Shkliar inspired us to dig into the documents, thanks to which we opened a large historical layer that we want to cover. So they decided to do it in the Shpola region."

"You, the children of independent Ukraine, are already being told a little bit in history lessons about the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1923," says Natalia Storchak. "And we, the seniors, were kept silent about everything in the Soviet school. We have never heard of the UPR or the Central Rada, Hrushevskyi, Vynnychenko, Skoropadskyo, Konovalets, Shukhevych, Kuk, we didn't know who Dontsov, Mikhnovskyi, Chykalenko, Lypa, Bagrianyi, and many other figures."

Later, the organizers added the modern Russian-Ukrainian war in the east and the Heavenly Hundred to the program, so recent festivals cover a range of topics.

The organizers didn't aim at creating a lecture on history, but an event that will be interesting for both children and adults. The guests of the festival consider it one of the secrets of its popularity among the locals.

"We managed to create something of our own, original thing"

Товмацький Курінь

When the NGO Tovmatskyi Kurin started a substantive discussion of the festival, they had almost no one to match. Since they all attended the Kholodnyi Yar Festival of the Unconquered Nation, they decided to follow this example.

"We met with our organizing committee and started thinking about where to start. We decided to invite Roman Koval, Vasyl Shkliar, our old friends. Roman Koval also helped us, as he invited a cohort of artists: Vasyl Liutyi, Taras Sylenko (now deceased). Dmytro Vovk offered to attract our local artists from the area," says Anatolii Kozlenko about the organization of the first festival in 2016. "Then we planned by age: for children, trampolines and ice cream, for adults, cooking porridge. Much attention was paid to history, so on the evening of the first day of the festival, we hold a memorial service, remembering all the heroes. We also did a film screening, after which we talked. In general, we looked at the examples of festivals and did our part."

"We would like the scale of the Kholodnyi Yar festival, but we managed to create something of our own, original thing," adds Serhii Koval.

To organize the festival, it is important to establish cooperation with local authorities. "At the time of the first festivals, Serhii Koval, one of our main organizers, was the head of the village of Tovmach, so the local authorities supported our idea," says Anatolii Kozlenko.  "The district authorities weren't against either. We say that they didn't hinder us, but helped a little, for example, covered some part of the funding. When Shpola district was still there, the chair of the district council came to the festival. However, the power doesn't remain the same."

In total, six festivals have already taken place, one of which was held under quarantine. "In 2020, we didn't have large-scale events. We came, laid flowers, honored the victims, and the funds allocated for the festival from the budget were transferred to the needs of the district hospital," says Dmytro Vovk.

Local government and funding: organization struggles

Товмацький Курінь

The organizers identify two problems that arise in their activities: misunderstanding of local authorities and financial issues.

Serhii Koval talks about the first problem: "The most difficult thing is the lack of understanding of local authorities, I mean the region, the district. Such festivals aren't very relevant, I don't know why. In previous years, we still cooperated; this year the local authorities didn't give any support and didn't even come to the festival."

Anatolii Kozlenko describes the financial issue: "All the locations of the festival are worth something. This year the funding was very low, so there were not many locations. Earlier we organized interesting events. For example, we wanted to put trampolines for children for free. To do this, the owner of the trampoline was invited, he was paid to stay with us all day, and children could jump for free. We attracted sponsors to pay for the trampolines. It is very important to look for sponsors instead of spending state funds from the village council."

Tovmatskyi Kurin is constantly assisted by local sponsors Dmytro Kravchenko, Yu. Liashenko, V. Kolisnyk, O. Kolotylo, O. Rzhevskyi, as well as members Anatolii Pasichnyk, Oleh Holub, and many others. "We always need to remember those people who help us," says Dmytro Vovk.

You need to pay for porridge, food for invited guests, and souvenirs of the festival. Fortunately, many artists come "just like that" because they also believe in the mission of Tovmatskyi Kurin, but the attributes still need to be bought. "Armored personnel carriers were brought to us from Zvenihorodka, and we had to pay for solarium. When the battle was reconstructed, we had to buy ammunition. People perform for free, but they can't give everything away for free," said Anatolii Kozlenko.

The organizers share that the festival in 2019 cost them 100,000 hryvnias, and in 2021, almost free, because the festival didn't receive funding, so they did everything on their own. "This year's event was much more modest," adds Natalia Storchak, "but it was at least supported by the Zvenihorodka district council headed by Serhii Struk. I hope that the political winds will blow and we will be able to preserve the true values. We already share a history of the festival with many participants."

"They say we do the right thing"

Товмацький Курінь

Participants of the NGO Tovmatskyi Kurin don't receive a financial reward for the organization, and the funds for the event are becoming less and less. Nevertheless, their enthusiasm is not waning, because there are people who believe in their mission. For example, this year, the guests of the festival Lilia Usyk and Inna Zakrevska held master classes on making bracelets and badges on their own initiative.

"We didn't expect much gratitude," says Serhii Koval. "Although many people come and thank us, they say that we are doing the right thing, that it's necessary for young people, for all of us. We want people to come and see that these guys aren't bandits, as we were taught before, what they wanted Ukraine's independence."

The success of the festival is evidenced by the fact that every year the number of guests increases. "I must say that every year we have new participants, and some of the past years stop participating," says Dmytro Vovk. "After the first festival, we were predicted that we wouldn't hold it again, but we have been holding it for 6 years. And we are independent, we are not tied to any authority or organization. If someone wants to help, we are happy to accept anyone. If you don't want to help us, don't bother us. We're not waiting for handouts, but we will gladly accept help."

The guests of the festival are enthusiastic about the initiative and often want to join the organization. Larysa Lisohor, a teacher from the Shpola territorial community, is going to volunteer for the team next year. "It's very important for the younger generation to see such a festival. If they know about the struggle for Ukraine's independence, if they learn the facts from history, no one will be able to convince them that Ukraine is worthless," says Larysa. "At Tovmatskyi Kurin, both children and young people will find something to do and learn our history in a fun way."

How to organize a festival in the village?

Organizing a festival is a large-scale solution to promote the history of Ukraine's struggle for independence. This case is not easy, but still possible. According to Natalia Storchak, the first thing to do is to find a community where everyone will unite, connected by a common goal.

The planning of the festival should be carried out while searching for funding and inviting guests. NGO Tovmatskyi Kurin has realized from their own experience that many people will participate in the festival for free, so before making an estimate, you should contact everyone.

Organizers also say it will be useful for local festivals to provide transportation for guests from neighboring towns and villages. Not everyone has a car, and the bus schedule rarely coincides with the time of the festival, so free transport will help more visitors.

Serhii Koval says that it's possible to start with something smaller, like holding meetings in schools, to show films like Black Crow, Black Cossack, and others. In communication with the participants of the NGO Tovmatskyi Kurin, we can feel their desire to develop the initiative, so the least we can do is to visit the festival next year. Follow the updates in the festival group, and come! The atmosphere of history, facts from Ukrainian history, and the usual summer entertainment are what you will definitely get.

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