The Ukrainian Youth Foundation announces the start of the qualifying rounds for the 18th All-Ukrainian Festival of Contemporary Song and Popular Music ‘Chervona Ruta’, which will run from 3 February to November 2026.

The competitions will cover all 24 regions of Ukraine and the city of Kyiv, as well as Ukrainian communities abroad — competitions will be held in Warsaw (Poland) and London (Great Britain).

Who can participate?

• Participation in the competitions is free, and admission is free for performers and guests.
• Three songs in Ukrainian are required to participate.
• The winners of the qualifying rounds will have the opportunity to perform in the festival finals in 2027.

The qualifying competitions are aimed at:

• supporting the patriotic education of young people through Ukrainian music;
• searching for and promoting talented young performers throughout the country;
• discovering new names and popularising the contemporary Ukrainian music scene.

Auditions will be held in the following genres:

• authentic Ukrainian folk music;
• popular music;
• contemporary dance music;
• acoustic music;
• rock music;
• other genres.

Applications are accepted by the Chervona Ruta Festival Directorate.

• 067) 448-27-75
• (050) 631-00-01
• (095) 335-68-23
• rutafest.art
• chruta@ukr.net

The application form is available on the festival website. You can find the tentative schedule and conditions of participation at the link.