From 24 to 28 August 2025, the 5th All-Ukrainian Arts Festival and Competition ‘My Ukraine is My Big Family’ took place, organised annually by the Smile Fest Organising Committee and My Warm Home Creative Studio LLC with the support of the creative union ‘Association of Variety Artists of Ukraine,’ the international radio station Radio Sfera Music, the international talent development company TUARON, and the informational support of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine.

Yulia Makhotina, leading concertmaster of the Department of Performing Arts and Culture at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Culture and Creative Industries, represented Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design in the competition, performing not only as the author of a musical instrumental work, but also as the author of a prose text. As a result of the competition, she won first place in the ‘Author's Creativity’ category.

A separate stage of the festival was the determination of the ‘Audience Choice Award’ based on the results of voting on the YouTube channel. Yulia Makhotina's performances received the required number of views and over 50 likes, but due to time constraints, they did not make it to the final selection. We sincerely hope for even more active support from our university community in future creative competitions, as such achievements are direct advertising for the university and contribute to career guidance work.

The festival organisers also expressed their gratitude to Lidiya Petrivna Makarenko, Director of the KNUTD Institute of Culture and Arts, and Vera Volodymyrivna Burnazova, Head of the KNUTD Department of Performing Arts.

Congratulations to our colleagues on their victories and awards, and we wish them new creative achievements!

09.09.2025