Many diverse projects, both debut ones and those by currently more well-known performers and projects, have applied for the Thousand Spring cultural product support program in the Contemporary Music category.
The submission of applications for participation in the Thousand Spring program concluded on June 4. In the Contemporary Music category, 337 applications were submitted, and following a technical selection, the State Agency of Ukraine for the Arts and Art Education published a list of 295 participants admitted to the second stage of the arts competition.
In particular, among the contestants is GNS Company LLC (GNS music company), which applied with projects for an EP for singer Masha Kondratenko and the creation of an album and music videos for the band Ziferblat.
ENKO LTD LLC (Enko music label) also applied for Thousand Spring to create an orchestral version of tracks by performer Carpetman.
In addition, performer Artem Pivovarov entered the competition with a project to record orchestral versions of his songs.
In turn, producer Ivan Klymenko applied for Thousand Spring with a project to create a symphonic album of folk music performed by artist Maryna Krut.
Among the applicants is also Klekit Records LLC (Kickit Records), which wants to create the project "Ukraine Sounds: Contemporary Music of the New Generation," within which it is planned to create musical works featuring artists Victoria Niro, Bily Bo, and BOTASHE.
In addition, the applications include the creation of albums for FROLOV, Dilya, The Nikas, Liona, CrazyBand, Rosalie Nombre, Moris, Artur, Zhguchchi, the band Fiolet, the band OlivIe, the band Pobutovyi Rap, the band Stelsi, the band Mertvyi Piven, Myroslav Kuvaldin, Bohdan Kuper, Vanessa Abazi, and many other performers and projects.
Furthermore, Your Best Festival LLC (Atlas Festival) applied for grant support to create a "Public Alley" at the festival in 2027, as well as to hold a charity donation day within the framework of Atlas Festival – DonAtlas.
The expert evaluation will last until July 28. At this stage, a comprehensive professional evaluation of the submitted projects will be carried out by more than 180 experts, the list of whom was approved by the government.
Each project will be evaluated by five independent experts according to ten criteria, including: compliance of the submitted project with the theme and the competition, compliance of the budget with the creative concept, professionalism of the team, potential to attract an audience, artistic and meaningful value, originality of the idea, social significance and potential impact, inclusiveness, barrier-free access, and diversity, feasibility of implementation, and the team’s experience in implementing similar projects.
Based on the evaluation results, a list of participants who will continue to participate in the next stage of the competition – pitching – will be formed. The final pitchings in a festival format will take place from August 12 to August 16. Participants will present their projects to experts and competition committees, which will determine the winners of the program.
The tentative funding by areas is: feature films and series – UAH 1.9 billion, non-fiction (documentary) films and series – UAH 240 million, animated films and series, films and series for children – UAH 490 million, contemporary music – UAH 300 million, performing arts – UAH 400 million, visual arts – UAH 300 million, audiovisual shows and videos for social networks – UAH 260 million.
As reported, the Ministry of Culture launched the submission of contest applications under the initiative to create a Ukrainian cultural product (formerly "1000 Hours of Ukrainian Content," now "Thousand Spring") on April 3. The acceptance of applications lasted until June 4, and the final pitching of the project will take place on August 12–16.
Some UAH 4 billion is provided in the state budget for 2026 for the implementation of this program. According to Vice Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy – Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetiana Berezhna, a maximum of 80% of UAH 4 billion, that is, UAH 3.2 billion, will be allocated for the Thousand Spring program this year.
Berezhna also reported that the ministry would propose to include funds for the Thousand Spring program in the state budget for 2027. According to her, next year the project is planned to be extended to books and online games.
