On June 6-7, the International Exhibition Center in Kyiv will host FANCON 2026 \u2014 Ukraine’s biggest pop culture festival. This year, its stage will also host the final of Red Bull ClassiCS in CS2. Ahead of the event, we spoke with festival founder Arkadii Medvediev about building a large-scale event during wartime \u2014 and why it’s worth doing at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Arkadii and his team, FANCON isn’t their first big step. They’ve been running events dedicated to cosplay, anime, and pop culture since 2008. Before this \u2014 Comic Con Ukraine, which Arkadii himself founded. When the full-scale invasion began, the question became clear: hold the festival or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We knew Ukraine needed big events like this. People need a moral break right now \u2014 and on top of that, our event can help raise funds to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A separate idea was to create a unified space where civilians, military personnel, and critical service workers could freely interact \u2014 seeing each other as people, not labels.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the team split. Part of it decided that holding such an event during wartime was impossible and wrong. Arkadii thought differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They told me \u2014 ‘go do your own thing.’ Even though I was the one who founded Comic Con Ukraine and all the trademarks belong to me, I agreed.” Instead of conflict \u2014 a fresh start. He invited those who were ready to begin from scratch. That’s how FANCON came to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s bigger, more structured, better organized. The only thing holding us back from even greater growth is the war. Honestly, I don’t even know where the limit of our growth is, because Ukrainians are used to creating the impossible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first FANCON in 2024 drew around 20,000 visitors. In 2025 \u2014 already 36,153. Nearly double in a year. And that’s happening amid active fighting, blackouts, and shelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Professional and experienced people work on the event, so I had no fears. A new brand, a new and most expensive venue, blackouts, shelling \u2014 we overcame all of it and keep growing steadily.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One stereotype FANCON still fights is the idea that it’s a “kids'” event. The team firmly disagrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The highest-grossing films of all time: Avatar, The Avengers, Star Wars. The video game market is one of the most promising in entertainment. Those billions of dollars aren’t generated by small children. They’re generated by people with steady incomes who found an event for themselves and their passions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FANCON brings together fans of video games, sci-fi, manga, Formula 1, wargaming, cosplay, K-pop, anime, comics, esports, board games, wrestling \u2014 and dozens of other communities. “In fact, it’s the only space in Ukraine that combines so many different yet related hobbies.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The festival’s audience has also changed \u2014 and the war has played a role here too. Previously, the core visitor age range was 20 to 45. Now the age has dropped to 15, there are noticeably more women, and fewer in the 25+ audience. “We don’t have a typical visitor,” Arkadii says. And that’s not a weakness \u2014 it’s a strength: FANCON brings together people from dozens of different communities who likely wouldn’t cross paths anywhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of FANCON’s most recognizable features is the UA Heroes zone, where booths from the Defense Forces, the State Emergency Service, and the police stand alongside cosplayers. Organizers started thinking about something like this back in late 2021 \u2014 as a tribute to those who protect people. After February 24, it became a necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I still remember the reaction to announcing the 3rd Assault Brigade’s booth \u2014 there was plenty of skepticism. But then the doors opened, people came in \u2014 and everything was great. The booths had massive lines, and a photo with Hatsune Miku at the 3rd Assault Brigade’s booth went viral online. The guys from the Third Brigade brought their gear the second day and took photos with cosplayers.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, booths from the military, police, and emergency services are a festival standard. “It’s simply impossible without them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every year, together with video blogger OLDBoi, FANCON runs a fundraiser for the needs of the 3rd Army Corps. Over two years, FANCON and its participants have raised about 2.3 million hryvnias for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But anyone can fundraise \u2014 for any unit or need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One detail that’s become a tradition \u2014 unique prizes for fundraising participants: custom consoles and computers designed in pop culture themes, made by Ukrainian craftsmen as one-of-a-kind pieces. Previous designs were styled after “The Lord of the Rings,” Warhammer, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year the festival will be bigger and more comfortable \u2014 the entrance area has been significantly redesigned, with larger and more numerous entry points. New zones: wrestling featuring foreign wrestlers, an esports stage with the Red Bull ClassiCS final, UA Creators instead of UA YouTube \u2014 now covering more than just YouTubers. And of course, more participants and fandoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked whether FANCON during wartime is entertainment or something more, Arkadii answers without hesitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s definitely not about escaping. It’s about responsibility, challenge, psychological release, and resilience. We’re running a huge and growing event during the war, while well-known European events aren’t feeling very comfortable. London Film And Comic Con was postponed to 2027 due to an ‘unstable economic situation.’ And we \u2014 are here.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, FANCON is hosting the Red Bull ClassiCS final \u2014 a CS2 tournament played on classic maps. For the organizers, esports and a pop culture festival are a natural fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“FANCON is Ukraine’s biggest pop culture event, and I can’t imagine it without esports. Esports is a huge layer that has shaped and continues to shape many of our visitors. It’s the evolutionary progression of what was once just a passion. Now any gamer can turn their passion into a dream job \u2014 and our role is to show just how real that is.” Looking ahead, the organizers see FANCON as a first step for those who want to get seriously into esports. “You see it, you get interested, you get involved \u2014 for us, all of that is simple and accessible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Red Bull ClassiCS in Ukraine is being run by UESF together with the Red Bull team. Federation CEO Andrii Hryshchenko explains why this project is special:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Red Bull ClassiCS isn’t a competition on the modern professional Counter-Strike map pool \u2014 it’s a format that lets you revisit different eras of the game through legendary maps familiar to several generations of players. That’s why this project isn’t just about the competitive side, but about shared memories, culture, and the history of Counter-Strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the Ukrainian community, this is a great opportunity to become part of a project that Red Bull has successfully run in countries around the world, but one that’s been created primarily for Ukrainian players and fans. Initiatives like this help popularize esports, attract new audiences, and create quality local events.
Of course, running an event like this is a complex process that requires significant effort from the whole team. But it’s exactly these kinds of projects that let us gain new experience, build our own expertise, and make Ukrainian esports stronger. We’re grateful to Red Bull for their trust and the opportunity to be part of this project.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make it onto the FANCON stage, teams had to go through serious qualifiers. 1,377 players registered for the two qualifiers (general and student) \u2014 and all of them were sorted into 128 teams. To make it through the upper bracket, a team needed to win six Best-of-One matches and one Best-of-Three. Anyone who slipped up early faced the lower bracket route: eleven wins in a row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two teams emerged from the general qualifier. m1xx<\/strong> was the only one who didn’t lose a single game, dropping just one map in the final Best-of-Three. nadetektor<\/strong> fell to the lower bracket after five wins but fought their way back through six straight opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The student qualifier gathered 31 full teams and determined two more finalists. chessplayersS went through the entire upper bracket undefeated and won the final Best-of-Three. KPI EVO lost only to them, fought back through the lower bracket, and secured the last slot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where and When<\/strong><\/p><\/h2>\n\n\n\n FANCON 2026 \u2014 June 6-7, IEC, Kyiv. Tickets at fancon.ua. The Red Bull ClassiCS CS2 final \u2014 same location. You can watch the LAN stage broadcasts on UESF’s official Twitch and YouTube channels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On June 6-7, the International Exhibition Center in Kyiv will host FANCON 2026 \u2014 Ukraine’s biggest pop culture festival. This year, its stage will also host the final of Red Bull ClassiCS in CS2. Ahead of the event, we spoke with festival founder Arkadii Medvediev about building a large-scale event during wartime \u2014 and why […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n