Lorak, Creed and ”Hands Up” did not appear at the festival in Azerbaijan – due to a complex conflict with the Russian Federation

The large-scale music festival Dream Fest 2025 is scheduled to take place in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, from July 23 to 26. However, before the event, the organizers decided to make changes to the program, excluding artists from the Russian Federation. This decision was made by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan in response to the aggravation of diplomatic relations with this country.

Previously, the main participants of the festival included Ani Lorak, the group “Hands Up”, Klava Koka, Yegor Creed, Stas Piekha, and other artists from the Russian Federation. Now they will be replaced by local talents.

According to information on the event website, the program of the first and third days will remain unchanged, while new performers will be announced for the second and fourth days.

Following this news, Russian users began to return tickets in large numbers. According to propaganda media, the prices for seats in the fan zone reached 4,000 rubles, while VIP tickets cost up to 226,500 rubles.

The reason for the cancellation of the performances of Russian artists was the sharp reaction of Azerbaijan to the actions of Russian law enforcement agencies. On June 27, a massive operation was carried out in Yekaterinburg by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian Guard, and the FSB, as a result of which more than fifty Azerbaijani citizens were detained as part of the investigation of crimes that took place in 2001, 2010, and 2011. During the searches in ten apartments, several people were detained, two of whom died, and several more were seriously injured.

In response to these actions, the Azerbaijani authorities decided to suspend cultural cooperation with Russia and terminate inter-parliamentary contacts. It is important to note that in Baku, the police also searched the office of the Russian media outlet “Sputnik Azerbaijan”, as a result of which two FSB agents were detained.

Currently, the organizers of Dream Fest are actively seeking new artists who can meet the demands of the Russian audience to avoid significant financial losses.