The Ukrainian orchestra did not perform in three cities of Great Britain because of visas

The Khmelnytskyi Orchestra was unable to hold three planned concerts in Great Britain because it did not issue visas to the musicians on time. The country’s government advertised the show as an example of British-Ukrainian relations. This was reported by the Guardian newspaper.

The tour of the Khmelnytskyi Orchestra with music from the films about “Harry Potter”, “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”, based on the books of the same name by British authors, was supposed to start on April 1. However, visas were issued to several team members, including the conductor, only a week later.

Because of this, three concerts did not take place: in Portsmouth, Salford and York. The show in Portsmouth was held by British musicians, but they could not play the full program and many spectators needed compensation, said Yaka Bizyl, director of the tour’s promoter company. Two other concerts had to be postponed. It became a “catastrophe” and cost the company one hundred thousand euros, says Basil.

Basil accused the British government of hypocrisy. “They made a big deal out of supporting Ukrainians, but when it came to issuing visas for them to perform in Great Britain, they didn’t want to know anything,” he said. Basil noted that visas were issued to the musicians only after he turned to the embassy for comments for a press release about the situation.

After Great Britain left the European Union, foreign artists repeatedly encountered bureaucratic difficulties when entering the country. The British government told the Guardian that “all visa applications are carefully considered individually in accordance with immigration rules” and in case of delays they “will seek to determine how to avoid similar problems in the future.”