Tourists are now going to dangerous Chernobyl radiation site for raves, art shows and stag dos
TOURISTS are now visiting the dangerous Chernobyl radiation site to party at raves and enjoy group stag dos. Despite a number of tours operating in the area to allow travellers to visit the radiation zone, the area is quickly becoming a “gimmick” with parties and large groups. In December, hundreds of people attended a rave-art […]
TOURISTS are now visiting the dangerous Chernobyl radiation site to party at raves and enjoy group stag dos.
Despite a number of tours operating in the area to allow travellers to visit the radiation zone, the area is quickly becoming a “gimmick” with parties and large groups.
In December, hundreds of people attended a rave-art show called Artefact, with neon lights and exhibitions throughout the area.
Guests were forced to wear white jumpsuits suits and gas masks to enjoy what many called a “giant festival”.
Radiation ice-creams were sold on site, with a radiation sign next to an ice cream truck being the suggestion behind the name.
Svetlana Korshunova, the curator of Artefact, told the Guardian he created the art-rave to “change the alienation zone, to fill it with new meanings”.
The area is also becoming popular with stag dos with large groups of men offered the package tours to experience something “unique” for their last night of freedom.
One tour guide suggests as many as 30,000 stag do guests visit the area a year.
Many Ukraine-based tour operators sell Chernobyl tour packages, with one suggesting to “surprise” the groom with a visit to the area alongside other tours such as paintballing and zorbing.
One stag do guest told the Telegraph a tour guide said: “Everybody smile. Say ‘cancer’!”
However, many people are not as impressed with using the ground for parties and nights out.
One woman told the Guardian: “That thing killed my grandmother. And now it’s a disco…”
Social media user Julie McDowall tweeted: “Just saw photos of a stag party in Chernobyl, one of them dressed up as Radioactive Man.
“The guards at the checkpoint should have turned them away.”
The area has been devoid of human life since 1996, when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded during the night.
During the incident, 120,000 people were forced to evacuate the town due to the radiation fall out, leaving many of their belongings behind.
Two people died in the factory during the explosion, while many others died later due to radiation induced illnesses and cancers.
Most read in travel
Unsavoury visits to the area are part of a rise of “dark tourism” which is areas with a dark past or a location of human deaths.
While some destinations, such as Auschwitz in Poland and the Killing Fields in Cambodia, welcome visitors, some tourists have been slammed for posing or smiling in the morbid areas.
Many were called “ignorant” after using selfie sticks and walking on railway tracks for photographs at the concentration camps.