October 12, 2024 14:05 PM

This Music Festival Takes Place In Chernobyl — Yup, Near The Site Where It All Happened

When people hear about Chernobyl, chances are, they'll think of a nuclear disaster. However, the place has something else to offer.

Already on its second year, Chernobyling Music Festival will have performances from various artists as well as street art demonstrations, geocaching challenges, and even fire shows.

The said festival set in Chernobyl will benefit the people of Slavutych, where most people who were affected by the nuclear power plant disaster now works. Additional funds will also go to Chernobyl babushkas, the women who came back to the exclusion zone of the power plant after the explosion.

The event is organized by Dominik Orfanus, founder of Chernobylwel, a website that offers tours in Chernobyl.

"Tourists wanted to know about the life of a worker in Chernobyl, and workers about what is interesting for tourists in an over-30-year abandoned area," said Orfanus.

"A festival seemed to be the best way to make this happen, and help the zone at the same time," he added.

Chernobyl History

Thirty-two years ago, what is known to be the world's worst nuclear disaster took place in Chernobyl, located in Kiev, Ukraine and about 12 miles from the border of Belarus.

The "level seven" blast happened on April 28, 1986, during a test which was meant to check the Unit 4 reactor's cooling function on limited power.

The explosion released 400 times more radiation than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The power surge resulted into a blast which blew the 1,000-ton roof off the reactor and released large levels of radiation into the earth's atmosphere which forced over 50,000 people from Pripyat, the nearest town which housed the plant's workers, to evacuate the contaminated area.

Decades after the blast, the area is recuperating as indicated by the wildlife starting to flourish there.

Tours are not a stranger to Chernobyl. Since 2009, it has welcomed adventure seekers in its non-restricted zones were already offered including a one-month stay, which does not have any adverse effects to human health.

Tickets can be purchased at Chernobyling's website.

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