In September, the city of Vinnytsia hosted the 17th VINNYTSIAian Festival, an event well-known both in Ukraine and abroad. Traditionally, this cultural celebration was organized to coincide with City Day.
The festival was organized by the "City Palace of Arts" with the support of the Vinnytsia City Council, the Department of Culture, and the International United Assistance Fund. A charity auction held during the festival successfully raised over 400,000 UAH to support the Ukrainian defenders.
Auction lots were provided by regular guests of the festival, including Viktor Andriienko, Oleh Filimonov, Anatolii Barsyuk, and Yuriy Stytskovskyi. Viktor Andriienko—a legend of Ukrainian show business, "People's Artist of Vinnytsia," and Honored Artist of Ukraine—presented a "Billy Bones" figurine. This character was voiced by Andriienko in the iconic animated film Treasure Island, directed by Davyd Cherkaskyi.
"If this auction allows my character to save even one life, it will be the best gift for me," the actor stated. The lot was sold for 15,000 UAH.
During the festival, Viktor Andriienko also held a creative meeting with the people of Vinnytsia. He introduced his latest project: an inclusive audio play for children with visual impairments titled "Legends of Charivnolissia" (Legends of the Magic Forest).
The project is being developed with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and in cooperation with the All-Ukrainian Organization "Ukrainian Union of Persons with Disabilities (USI)." Festival attendees, especially children and their parents, showed great interest in the audio play. Viktor Andriienko conducted an engaging and educational lecture on the creation of audio plays, animated films, and film production.
"We will make our audio play very interesting not only for Ukrainian children but for children all over the world," Andriienko noted. Many young participants expressed their desire to take part in similar projects in the future.
The audio play "Legends of Charivnolissia" will be available for free by the end of this year on the national online cinema platform SWEET.TV.