The Verkhovna Rada approved, in its second reading and as a whole, draft law No. 15206 establishing the third Saturday in September as an annual public holiday—Ukrainian Music Day.
According to a correspondent for the “Interfax-Ukraine” agency, during the plenary session on Wednesday, June 27, the decision was supported by 292 members of parliament, with no votes against.
As reported, draft resolution No. 15053 was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on March 3.
As noted in the explanatory memorandum, the choice of this date has historical and symbolic significance. The date is linked to the events of the 1989 “Chervona Ruta” festival in Chernivtsi, when on September 24, at the festival’s closing ceremony, the then-banned anthem “Shche ne vmerla Ukraina” was performed publicly for the first time. The festival’s events were widely covered by Western radio stations, which helped draw the international community’s attention to the aspirations of the Ukrainian people. The initiative to establish Ukrainian Music Day was proposed by representatives of the music industry during a meeting with the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada on September 18, 2025.
Among the authors of the draft resolution were Oleksandr Sanchenko (Servant of the People faction), Mykola Knyazhytskyi (European Solidarity), and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk.
The 1st All-Ukrainian Festival of Contemporary Song and Popular Music “Chervona Ruta” took place on September 17–24, 1989, in Chernivtsi.
