Late in the evening, it is still hot and extremely dusty in front of the Dark Stage when thousands of people suddenly kneel during Tin Sontsya’s performance. The crowd falls completely silent. In the background, photos of the fallen soldier Yuriy Romanovych Dadak are shown on the stage. Yuriy, a Ukrainian poet and soldier, was killed in action on April 1, 2022, in the Luhansk region of Ukraine. In that moment, it becomes clear that Faine Misto is more than a music festival. In a country at war, it is a place where remembrance, resistance, and music exist side by side. The Faine Misto Festival has been held since 2013. With the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the festival moved from Ternopil to Lviv. Oleh, 28, is one of the administrators of the festival’s press center. According to him, around 10,000 people are attending this year, with more than 51 bands performing across a wide range of genres over three days. Held at the Arena of Lviv, the festival allows every attendee to reach a bomb shelter within minutes. During the event, the festival is raising funds for interceptor drones to help defend Ukraine against Russian drone attacks.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The territory of freedom: Fans dancing on old cars during Telema’s performance (Photo: Kathrin F. Beck).