The third edition of Czech Dreams in Lviv, a festival dedicated to Czech-Ukrainian cultural cooperation, begins in Lviv today. The event is also one of the flagship programmes of the Brno UNESCO City of Music office. Musicians and visual artists from both countries will take part, alongside a range of educational projects and networking events for representatives of partner institutions from the Czech Republic and Ukraine. This popular recurring event grew out of the highly successful Czech-Ukrainian Partnership Week held in Lviv in 2024, which received an exceptionally positive response from both professionals and the wider public and was described as one of the most significant cultural initiatives in Ukraine since the outbreak of the war.
The third edition of the festival will officially open on Thursday, 18 September at the Dzyga club gallery with New Mythologies, an exhibition curated by Barbora Kundračíková. It brings together Czech artists Markéta Hlinovská and Petr Válek with Ukrainian artist Sofiia Korotkevych and explores how new images, stories and mythologies emerge from our experience of the present day. The opening will also feature a special sound performance by Petr Válek and Miloš Vojtěchovský, created specifically for Dzyga. In the music hall of the same popular club, leading Czech photographer Majda Slámová will present an exhibition of photographs from previous editions of Czech Dreams in Lviv. Brno street artist, visual artist, poet and graffiti artist Timo has created a new mural for Lviv, which he will paint himself during the festival.
The festival’s music programme, always an eagerly anticipated part of Czech Dreams in Lviv, will feature performances by Jan Fic, Ametyst Group, performer Ventolin and the Antonín Stehlík Cimbalom Band. The Ukrainian scene will be represented by acts including Josyfovych Live, Leleka i Paporot and DJ Lawrin.
On Friday, the Dimension of Lesia Ukrainka Theatre showcase will bring Ukrainian and international theatre professionals to Lviv, with Czech Dreams adding a Czech representative to the international gathering.
“Lviv and its cultural scene really do have a great deal to offer. I’m convinced that cooperation between us is important and can enrich both sides. It is also significant that this initiative is taking place at a difficult time for Ukrainians – and they greatly appreciate it,” adds Jiří Borcel, Consul General of the Czech Republic in Lviv.
The programme also includes a networking event entitled “Czech-Ukrainian Cooperation: Connecting Culture, Business and Education”. The round-table discussion will bring together consular representatives from both countries and representatives of major institutions and organisations, including the Rector of Masaryk University, representatives of the Brno UNESCO City of Music office and the Lviv UNESCO City of Literature office, the Director of the Lviv Philharmonic and the President of the Czech-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, among others.
Thanks to Czech Dreams’ long-standing cooperation with the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation, this year’s festival in Lviv will also coincide on Wednesday with the foundation’s summit for Ukrainian leaders who took part in study visits to the Czech Republic between 2023 and 2026. By joining forces with the summit, Czech Dreams will build on previous activities in the field of sustainable development.
The festival will also include the handover of two off-road vehicles to the Ukrainian army. A crowdfunding campaign initiated by the Antonín Stehlík Cimbalom Band raised more than CZK 250,000, making it possible to acquire two vehicles that will travel from Lviv to the eastern front near Kostiantynivka, where they will be used to transport the wounded and deliver supplies. “We’re proud of the cimbalom band and delighted that Czech Dreams inspired them in previous years, and that they’ll have the honour of being in Lviv for the handover of both vehicles. Czech-Ukrainian friendship is not just words for us. This is one of those moments when those words become actions,” adds festival director David Dittrich.
Brno and Lviv, officially twin cities since 2024, have a long-standing record of cultural cooperation. The strongest links are in music and literature, as both cities are members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network – Brno in the field of music and Lviv in literature. Ties between cultural institutions and individual artists in the two cities continue to grow, and this year’s Czech Dreams festival will once again bring a number of Brno artists to Lviv.
“Czech Dreams in Lviv is not just a cultural gathering, but a tangible expression of the partnership between the Czech Republic and Ukraine, between Brno and Lviv, and between the South Moravian Region and Lviv Region. This is our third time in Lviv, and we’re delighted that the previous two editions were such a success – that gives us both a responsibility and the motivation to continue,” says David Dittrich.
The festival is held under the patronage of Jiří Borcel, Consul General of the Czech Republic; Jan Grolich, Governor of the South Moravian Region; Markéta Vaňková, Mayor of Brno; Maksym Kozytskyi, Governor of Lviv Region; and Andriy Sadovyi, Mayor of Lviv.
Czech Dreams in Lviv 2025 / photo: Majda Slámová
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