Organisers recorded 5,300 attendees during the seven-hour festival, up from more than 4,000 last year and further establishing UkraineFest as one of Swindon’s major annual community events.
Swindon Welcomes Ukraine believes the event could now be the largest Ukrainian Independence Day celebration in the United Kingdom.
The festival brought together Ukrainian families, local residents and visitors from further afield to mark Ukrainian Independence Day, with five workshop zones, five exhibitions, 32 handmade vendors, 12 food and drink businesses and a packed programme of live entertainment.
This year’s celebration also came at a significant moment in Swindon’s relationship with Ukraine, as the town moves closer to establishing a formal twinning partnership with the Ukrainian city of Rivne.
The connection has particular significance for Swindon Welcomes Ukraine Chair Anastasiia Banatska, who is originally from Rivne. Across Town Gardens, visitors were able to experience both traditional and contemporary Ukrainian culture.
The main stage featured performers from Swindon and across the UK, ranging from Ukrainian choirs, dance and poetry to contemporary bands and rock music.
Traditional Ukrainian instrument the bandura featured prominently, including performances and workshops introducing visitors to its distinctive sound and cultural significance.
Five workshop zones offered activities including traditional Petrykivka painting, sunflower art, Motanka doll making, macramé, beeswax candle making and acrylic pouring, alongside three dedicated music workshops.
Children had their own programme of creative workshops and entertainment, including face painting, sand painting, a bubble show, stilt walker and bouncy castles.
Art also played a major role in this year’s festival. Twelve artists came together to create an exhibition, while five exhibitions and seven dedicated photo zones were spread across the event.
Among them was Home with an Open Heart, a documentary photography project telling the stories of Ukrainian and British families whose lives have become closely connected since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Anastasiia Banatska, Chair of Swindon Welcomes Ukraine, and event organiser said:
“To see 5,300 people come together for UkraineFest is difficult to put into words. When Ukrainians first arrived in Swindon, we were welcomed at one of the hardest moments of our lives. Four years later, thousands of people are standing alongside us and celebrating our culture, our traditions and our independence.
“UkraineFest is Ukrainian at its heart, but it belongs to the whole community. Seeing British families, Ukrainians and people from so many different backgrounds eating together, dancing together and discovering our culture is exactly what we wanted this festival to become.
“And with the friendship between Swindon and my home city of Rivne now developing into something much bigger, this year’s festival felt particularly special.”
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Swindon Welcomes Ukraine has supported over 550 Ukrainians settling in the town, while local families have opened their homes through the Homes for Ukraine programme.
Swindon has been progressing plans for a formal partnership with Rivne, with representatives from both communities discussing future cooperation in culture, education, business, community development and international friendship.
Rivne Mayor Viktor Shakyrzian visited Swindon earlier this summer as discussions progressed, meeting local government leaders and representatives of the Ukrainian community.
Kris Talikowski, Vice-Chair of Swindon Welcomes Ukraine, said: “Four years ago Swindon was responding to an emergency. People opened their spare rooms, helped children into schools, helped people find jobs and did whatever they could to make Ukrainian families feel safe and welcome.
“UkraineFest shows how much that relationship has changed. Ukrainians aren’t simply guests in Swindon anymore, they are part of the town and part of our community.
“And as Swindon and Rivne move closer towards a formal partnership, I think UkraineFest gives us a glimpse of what that relationship can become, not just something written on a piece of paper between two councils, but a living friendship between two communities.”
For Swindon Welcomes Ukraine, the challenge now is to build on that success as both UkraineFest and the town’s relationship with Rivne enter their next chapter.
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