For two days the grounds of the open-air museum in Pyrohiv will turn into the world of Ivan Kotliarevskyi's poem — the age of Cossack valour and baroque flourish. The organisers call EneidaFest the first polyphonic festival of its kind: the poem is to come alive in sound, image and taste.

The event was announced by the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine.

What the festival promises

The programme includes theatrical performances and encounters with the characters of the poem, musical acts and folk dancing, Cossack games and traditional contests. Master classes by folk craftsmen are announced separately.

There will also be food — dishes of the Ukrainian cuisine of that era. The organisers' idea is to weave the burlesque humour of the Aeneid together with the refinement of the Hetmanate, and folk tradition with high culture.

When and where

The festival takes place on 5 and 6 September 2026 on the museum grounds in Kyiv, at 1 Akademika Tronka Street — the southern edge of the capital, so from Bucha district the route runs through Kyiv.

It is supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, with the museum as co-organiser. Ticket prices and opening hours are published on the museum's official website.

Why the Aeneid

Kotliarevskyi's poem, written at the end of the eighteenth century, was the first work of modern Ukrainian literature composed in the living spoken language. Its heroes are Trojans who behave and speak like Ukrainian Cossacks.

The open-air museum is a natural stage for it: real cottages, windmills and churches from every region of the country were moved to Pyrohiv and reassembled there.

Earlier we reported that an ensemble from the village of Blystavytsia won awards at two competitions in a row.