Ukrainian Festival Wins Prestigious European Award
This year, the most prestigious European award in the field of cultural heritage will be presented to the festival for children and teenagers “Different Together,” organized in Kyiv by the Mystetskyi Arsenal.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Ukrinform.
On June 12, the European Commission and Europa Nostra, an international federation dedicated to cultural heritage, announced the winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2025, which is co-financed by the European Union's Creative Europe program. A total of 30 initiatives from more than 20 countries were selected as the best.
The Different Together Festival, launched in 2015 as the Arsenal of Ideas, is organized annually by the Mystetskyi Arsenal in Kyiv. The event offers an inclusive platform where children, teenagers, educators, and heritage professionals interact creatively and participatively with Ukraine's cultural, historical, and natural heritage.
The organizers emphasize that the central component of the success of the Different Together festival is its focus on joint creativity and interaction. A rich pre-festival capacity-building program supports heritage professionals through training, networking, and mentoring, focusing on museums in frontline regions.
In 2023, travel grants enabled ten organizations from regions severely affected by Russia's war against Ukraine to participate in the festival, and five museums received additional support to create and present educational projects at the festival, according to the Mystetskyi Arsenal.
In 2024, the number of supported participants doubled.
“The Different Together Festival is a powerful symbol of resilience and sustainability in the context of war, which has a significant impact despite extremely difficult circumstances,” emphasized the jury of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2025.
The European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards were established by the European Commission in 2002 and have since been implemented by Europa Nostra. They are a key tool for recognizing and promoting the diverse values of heritage for European culture, society, economy, and the environment.
The winners will be honored on October 13 at the European Heritage Awards 2025 ceremony at Flagey, an iconic Art Deco building in Brussels, Belgium.
Europa Nostra is a pan-European federation of cultural heritage non-governmental organizations supported by a broad network of public authorities, private companies, and individuals covering more than 40 countries. Founded in 1963, it is the largest and most representative network in the field of heritage in Europe, maintaining close ties with the European Union, the Council of Europe, UNESCO, and other international organizations.
The Different Together Festival for children and teenagers is a project of the Art Arsenal in cooperation with the Art Arsenal Community NGO, which has been running since 2020. The event is supported by the European Union through the “House of Europe” program and the “Partnership for a Strong Ukraine” Fund, which is financed by the governments of Great Britain, Estonia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United States of America, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden.