Young musicians from Kryvyi Rih celebrate the Independence Day of Ukraine in Espoo

Krok, a multidisciplinary group of young musicians from Espoo's Ukrainian partner city Kryvyi Rih, will perform on Ukraine's Independence Day on 24th of August at Etelä-Tapiola Upper Secondary School. Later in the evening, the musicians will join the sunflower march(external link, opens in a new window) in Helsinki and performing a song as part of it. The United for peace – United for Ukraine event, open to all, demonstrates support for Ukraine's independence, freedom and peace.

The repertoire of the internationally experienced group includes Ukrainian folk songs and contemporary interpretations of folklore material, performed both as a cappella and as instrumental performances. In English, the name Krok means step.

Espoo Day(external link, opens in a new window) will be celebrated again for two days. During the weekend, Krok will perform at Tapiola Upper Secondary School, the Mayor's reception and on Saturday 26th of August at 3 pm at an event open to everyone inside the Espoo Cultural Centre on Flyygeliaula, next the grand piano in a lobby.

One of the goals of the trip is to give the young people a moment of rest from the everyday life of war. During the visit, the group will visit the EMMA Museum, Rantaraitti and Espoo libraries, among others.

Mayor of Espoo, Jukka Mäkelä, delivered video greetings to the city of Kryvyi Rih and its residents on the occasion of Ukraine's Independence Day.

"I want to express my admiration for the courage and resilience of the people in Ukraine and Kryvyi Rih for defending your freedom - and for defending the freedom of all of us. Both in Ukraine and in Finland, and both in Kryvyi Rih and Espoo, we know the value of independence. On the Independence Day of Ukraine - and on all days - we stand in solidarity with the citizens of Kryvyi Rih and Ukraine", the mayor said in his speech.

The string quartet of Tapiola Upper Secondary School performed the national anthem of Ukraine in the video.

We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kryvyi Rih on Europe Day 9.5.2023. Espoo upper secondary schools and Kryvyi Rihn lyceums have been cooperating since the spring(external link, opens in a new window). The cooperation has also expanded to vocational schools and universities. Espoo has supported Kryvyi Rih with donations of money and supplies for education. The intention is to expand the cooperation to other themes as well.

Kryvyi Rih was selected as Espoo's partner city at the suggestion of Ukraine’s Ambassador to Finland, Olga Dibrova. Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ambassador Dibrova.

Annika Forstén, Head of International Affairs, tel. +358 40 6369681, annika.forsten@espoo.fi