ZdravoFest – the first event of a new format held in Kryvyi Rih

The event started at 10.00 a.m. at the monument to Kozak Rih with an exciting STALKER QUEST on industrial theme Acting Industry. 6 teams of adventures and extreme sports lovers visited 7 objects of industrial tourism including both well-known (mines Rodina and Artem) and completely unexplored ones (Red Lake, a gallery, a  technogenic waterfall).

At p.m. at Art Square the main programme of the festival started with an opening speech of the Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Svitlychnyi, the Head of the Department of Family and Youth Affairs Svitlana Lavrynenko and the Director of the PU Kryvyi Rih City Development Institution Andrii Nahornyi.

First of all the third round of the competition for the best slogan of the festival was held and a wonderful expression proposed by O. Zherdeva was chosen – “Health, Joy, Will”.

In general the programme of the eventwas intense and met all tastes and preferences just as it was expected. Poetry fans enjoyed poetry battle won by Maia Chala. People interested in cycling had a great opportunity to ride a bike along the city streets (by the way, it was a free of charge rent for the first 30 minutes). Demand for the service exceeded the most optimistic expectations of the representatives of NGO Velokryvbass and EC Velikan providing bicycle rent. So, more and more residents of our city become interested in cycling and even consider bicycle as a real alternative to public transport.

There was also place for the latest technological achievements such as QR-library. Everyone who had a modern gadget could download a book he liked in a few seconds and immerse in reading.

Note: QR - short for the English phrase “quick response”. At virtual bookshelves, the owner of the gadget can download a favorite book for free. Modern devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) read the QR-code on the spine of the book with the camera in just a few seconds. What matters is that the device has a free program recognizing QR-code set up.

Another exiting place was Photography School, where professional photographers shared their knowledge on photo composition set up, lighting, lens selection, etc.

A mini-excursion turned to be a great bonus for those, who are eager to discover the history of Kryvyi Rih. The route was laid along Karl Marks Avenue and Lenin Street.

Young people, students, young workers and members of NGO Velokryvbass joined the excursion. The guide told about the history of the streets names which was surprisingly new for the sightseers, not everybody knew the old names of the streets – Poshtova (Karl Marks Avenue), Bazarna (Zhovtneva St), Mykolaivska (Lenin St), Banna (Annenko St), Starobanna (Chkalov St).

Special attention was paid to Oleksandr Pol thanks to whom the steel heart of the country – Kryvbas – arose. Exciting stories about the “iron rush” plunged tourists into the atmosphere of hard work and human desire to enrich like during the "gold rush" in America in the nineteenth century.

As the tourists said, they had had a marvelous opportunity to discover many unknown pages of local history and trace the development of their native town from its origins to the present. And even though the trip had been quite short (about 40 minutes), they had learned about this part of Kryvyi Rih much more than ever before.

Trainers of the dance school Impuls conducted master classes of rousing salsa and bachata for dance fans. At night, in fading sunlight, dancing couples looked particularly attractive.

Extreme club Millionaire provided everybody wishing to try slacklining - tightrope walking– with this opportunity. It’s not an easy thing and requires good body balance, but thanks to volunteerssupporting "tightrope walkers" everybody had a great fun without falling down.

In the course of the festival a municipal action Carfree Day aimed at preserving the environment was held. Department of Energy of the City Executive Committee held a drawing competition on the theme of solicitous attitude to traditional and alternative energy sources. Turbine towers, solar panels appeared on children’s drawing papers.

Everybody wishing to show his or her ability in “high art” could participate in the action Colour Your City and paint some strokes on the picture. Several masterpieces depicting the most well-known sights of Kryvyi Rih – the boat station, the Cathedral, the quarry of the South Mining and Processing Enterprise, and the blast furnaces of the PJSC ArselorMittal Kryvyi Rih – were created this way.

A banner and a brand-wall featuring the logo of Kryvyi Rih and ZdravoFest became a mecca for all participants of the festival. Everybody wanted to have a photo with the city brand marks. One could also buy branded T-shirts and souvenirs with the city logo.

Members of the Stone Enthusiast Club “Kameneliuby” conducted a master class of stone processing. One could see how a small piece of prase, quartz or calcite becomes a smooth ball or a fanciful figure. By the way, Kryvyi Rih is quite rich in different minerals and semi-precious stones.

KPC Shelter+ presented its charity and community projects: Doctor-clown in Kryvyi Rih, Charity Shop and School of Real Volunteering. Centre volunteers took care of the youngest festival participants – children – and entertained them with joyful games and funs.

A lot of thematic pavilions and zones functioned in terms of the festival (Photography School, Photo Zone, Express-school of foreign languages, mini-excursions, exhibition of paintings by the local artists, exhibition and sale of the Kryvyi Rih semi-precious stones and stone articles, master class of stone processing, presentation of charity and community projects by KPC Shelter+, exhibition and master classes of hand-made articles, Health. Family. Feature., Advantages of Healthy Way of Life and Cycling, photo show ZdravoLife, slacklining, extreme cycling performances, master class of social dances, poetry battle Nail, QR library, art-project Colour Your City) one of them was devoted to industrial tourism in Kryvyi Rih. City Development Institution presented vivid promotional products: booklets, leaflets and information boards, showing the industrial greatness of our city and a strong potential for the development of industrial tourism.

Many visitors were interested in this quite unusual and exciting type of tourism, they asked about excursions, their cost, and the main question was “Is it possible to descend a shaft or visit quarries of mining and processing works?”. It is pleasant to mention that Kryvyi Rih residents are attracted to visiting industrial objects of the city and longing to try miner’s or collier’s profession.

At night the event burst with new colours – a fabulous rock-concert of well-known Kryvyi Rih rock-groups Mute Monster, Shepit Nahvalia, 220 V and a spectacular fire show gave unforgettable emotions and impressions to all participants of the festival.

Hosts of the venue didn’t leave behind urgent problems of our country. Through the charitable lottery conducted during ZdravoFest, they managed to collect 1538 UAH, which will be donated to the Foundation "Solidarity", which in its turn will send them to help the residents of our city who participate in the ATO in Eastern Ukraine. On the results of the Lottery draw, 20 participants got Gift Certificates from the partners of the venue.

Special thanks to all the sponsors of the event:

-         Café Geronimo

-         PRADO Cafe

-         Trading depot of building materials, 85 O.Brozovskyi St.

-         ManagingcompanyDom.Com

-         Europe Plus – informational partner, promotional announcements on major radio stations of the city;

-         Sports and Entertainment Complex Escorial – Gift Certificates for exclusive services of the complex;

-         Salon Shop of tiles and sanitary ware Myr, 5 Bliukher St. – sponsors of the fire show by the First Kryvyi Rih Fire Theatre;

-          stationery shop Kansi – gifts for the participants of the children drawing contest

And our technical sponsors:

-         EC Velikan – bicycles for rent

-         Ukrtelekom – free wi-fi

-         DS Accent – high-quality printed materials

-          Shop Nazareth