Cheap Flights to Donetsk (DOK) from UK Airports

Every September in Donetsk, the Ukrainian Blacksmiths Festival features displays and demonstrations of this lost art.

Blacksmithing may be a dying art in much of Western Europe but in the Ukrainian town of Donetsk the profession is taken seriously enough to honour it with the annual Festival of Blacksmith Arts. Also known as the All Ukrainian Blacksmiths Festival, the event has been held in the destination of Donetsk since 2004 when it was decided that the Forged Figures Park in town would provide the perfect venue. Over the years as the Festival has grown, more and more sculptural works of art have been added to this park, making it one of the most unique park destinations in Eastern Europe and the entire continent.

Some of the sculptures in the park include the Sweethearts Pavilion which is decorated with flowers each year for the festival and the Zodiac Signs Alley which features twelve artworks forged by master blacksmiths. Seven of them were produced by the local Gefest blacksmiths' guild. The City Council of Donetsk supports the festival which takes place on the same day each year as Miner's Day, generally held in mid September. So respected is the festival nationally that in some years the President of the Ukraine personally attends. It is also considered important internationally, with tourists coming from as far away as the UK to see the finished artworks made of iron and demonstrations of the techniques needed to make them.

One of the most popular demonstrations takes place during the annual competition of blacksmiths, held during the festival. Another goal of the festival is to popularise the national traditions of the Ukraine.