The project was conceived by Roman Tugashev who worked at Art Zavod Platforma when the inaugural Vulychna Yizha Festival took place. As the project started to gain momentum, Tugashev left his job in order to concentrate on Vulychna Yizha and its niche spin-off projects, such as Kyiv Coffee Festival, Kyiv Beer Festival, Wine & Restaurants, White Nights Dance Event, and Santa Muerte Carnival.
According to the festival team, Vulychna Yizha was modeled after European street food festivals. Its main goals are to promote European street food culture, as well as give people an opportunity to spend a perfect weekend enjoying delicious street food and drinks, good music, various entertainment, and friends’ company.
The heart of the Vulychna Yizha Street Food Festival is an enormous food court where the best start-ups, craft producers, and restaurants from Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities offer various kinds of street food. To make things more exciting and introduce festival goers to street food from around the world, the festival team thinks up a new theme for each edition of the festival. For example, the 2018 themes included:
- Cheat meal: a scheduled diet violation that helps prevent cravings and keeps you from binge-eating and going off your diet altogether.
- 5 Years, 5 Senses: anniversary festival focused on the five traditionally recognized methods of perception (taste, sight, touch, smell, sound).
- BBQ: an open-air grill party.
- Thanksgiving Day: traditional Thanksgiving Day dishes such as roasted turkey with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, apple pie, pumpkin pie, hot apple cider, etc.
In addition to delicious, varied and high-quality street food, the festival features plenty of entertainment such as beach, pool and water slides (if the season and weather permits), live music on several stages, beanbags and lounge chairs for relaxation, special areas for kids and teenagers, presentations and workshops, a beauty zone, a market with souvenirs and handmade items, food shows, and more.
The festival is wheelchair accessible and pet friendly. The organizers have created an inclusive space for persons with special needs. By the way, people with disabilities are granted free entry, as well as children up to 15 years old, families with 3 or more children, and people who have served or a currently serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The festival went on a hiatus in 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine but returned in the summer of 2024.
Photo: facebook.com/ulichnayaeda
