The Tower Festival will take place in Zhytomyr Water Tower from 26 to 28. Zhytomyr residents and guests of the city will have the opportunity to get on free tours of the tower and visit a specialized photo exhibition.
Kyiv. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – June 27, 2021 – Ukraine Society and Culture
The author and organizer of the festival, Alina Kundich from Zhytomyr, spoke about this in a comment. A year ago, Alina got inside the Water Tower of Zhytomyr for the first time and says that she was sadly surprised by the neglected condition of the tower. Then she became more interested in the history of this object, took guide courses, and offered the “City Development Agency” of the Zhytomyr City Council free and on a volunteer basis to conduct tours of the tower.
“Of course, for this, we first had to clean up there and repair the tower a bit, because the plaster flew off in some places, there were dead pigeons on the floor, the roof was leaking somewhere,” says Alina. – And again, on a volunteer basis, we did all this and began to conduct tours. The practice has shown that these tours are in demand not only among Zhytomyr residents but also among guests of the city. Therefore, when the opportunity arose to apply for a grant from the mayor for gifted youth, we, together with another Zhytomyr resident Inga Yakymenko, who also joined the cleaning, decided to do so and hold a cultural and informational event “Tower Festival”.
The festival will last for three days – from 26 to 28 June. At the festival, the organizers will show a photo exhibition with photos of various towers of Ukraine and the world, including water towers. Under each photo, you can read how the tower space is used today.
“On an opening day, June 26, we will start with an introductory speech and at about 2.20 pm, I think, we will let people in. At first, our saxophone will ring with music for 15-20 minutes. And the highlight will be that on each floor and between the floors there will be musicians who will use their music to encourage people to climb the stairs of the tower higher and higher. Musicians will be only on the first day. In the coming days, we plan to play recorded retro music. For low-mobility groups, there will be a laptop with a projector on the ground floor so that they can also explore the space in this way because there is no elevator on the tower, “said the festival organizer.
Alina Kundich in the Water Tower of Zhytomyr
Also for all comers on these days will be free tours of the tower, which will take place every hour – at 15.30, 16.30 and 17.30.
According to Alina, in this way, they want to draw the attention of Zhytomyr residents and city officials to the tower as a potentially successful tourist attraction and cultural site.
“The idea is to draw attention to our tower as an architectural monument of local significance and as one of the unique objects and symbols of our city and to show that even in such a simple way the tower can be turned into a cultural platform and tourist object. At the exhibition, we will show various examples of the use of tower space. For example, the territory of the Mariupol water tower has been turned into a creative space, and events are held there every day. Now there are just painted by day and photo shoots of photographers, and book forums, and workshops, and other events. Our tower is currently in need of reconstruction. Issues in financing. The German non-governmental organization GIZ is ready to give part of the money. But there should be co-financing of the city, and there are still problems with that, ”says Alina.
Based on the results of the excursions, the organizers will form a Book of Reviews, which they want to submit to the deputies of the city council and the mayor of Zhytomyr.
During the “Tower Festival,” Zhytomyr Water Tower will be open to visitors from 14.00 to 18.00. Free tours are also scheduled for July 2, 3, 4, 13, and 15.
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Source: Ukrgate