(ANSA-AFP) - TRIESTE, 27 LUG - Amid a sea of denim shorts,
selfies, sequins and thumping bass lines, the setting could
easily be mistaken for Coachella or Glastonbury. But the Sunny
Hill festival in Pristina is helping turn Kosovo into a go-to
destination during Europe's summer festival season, thanks in
large part to its founder: Dua Lipa. For years, Kosovo was
associated with its bloody war against Serbia that pitted ethnic
Albania insurgents against Serb forces in the late 1990s,
leaving thousands dead and triggering a refugee crisis. But the
arrival of Lipa on the international pop scene has helped
showcase Kosovo's other side -- young, talented and full of
ambition. With more than 87 million followers on Instagram and
more than 25 million albums sold, the British-born singer of
Kosovo descent is one of the biggest pop stars in the world.
Alongside an endless tour schedule, film roles and hosting a
popular podcast, Lipa remains one of the most vocal promoters of
all things Kosovo.
- Very happy -
Launched in 2018 with her father, the Sunny Hill festival she
created has brought some of the biggest names to perform in this
tiny corner of the Balkan. Late Thursday afternoon, as the first
notes echoed from the main stage, a young crowd passed through
the festival entrance, ever grateful to Lipa for bringing
another star-studded line up to the capital Pristina. "I'm very
happy that she's promoting our country with these big, big
artists and bringing them to our country," said Rita Ramadani,
19. For its fifth edition, Sunny Hill boasts a roster of
performers that rivals more established festivals. Headliners
this year include British rap sensation Stormzy and the king of
afrobeat, Burna Boy. Bebe Rexha -- who is also of ethnic
Albanian origin -- electrified the crowd as she sang her global
hit "Me, Myself and I", while speaking Albanian with the
audience in between songs. Albania and Kosovo flags dotted the
stages and were scattered across the audience during
performances, where festival goers regularly hold two crossed
hands in the sign of the Albanian eagle aloft. This is a
festival in Kosovo, afterall. "We are all very happy that this
is happening right now and people from all the world got to hear
about Kosovo, and about Sunny Hill. Thanks to Dua Lipa," said
festival attendee Nita Krasniqii. And while the festival
attracts thousands of locals, music lovers from abroad are also
making their way to Pristina. "We're here because it's amazing
music," said Michael Maguire, who travelled to the festival from
Brussels with friends. "Kosovo's an amazing country, full of
young people, and very vibrant."
- 'It is miraculous' -
But hosting a concert in Kosovo has not always been easy. "In
the first years it was more difficult to invite artists as their
managers would look online for information about Kosovo and see
it might be risky," Lipa's father and festival co-founder
Dukagjin Lipa told local media. "Now we don't have that problem
because we have built a name!" According to organisers, around
45 percent of the festival's tickets this year were sold abroad.
Priced at 200 euros a ticket -- which is nearly half the average
monthly salary in Kosovo -- few local youngsters are able to
afford entry to the four-day festival. To help control costs,
Pristina's municipal government provided the land, security,
transportation and garbage collection for free. "It is
miraculous that it happens in Pristina," mayor Perparim Rama
told AFP. "It provides us with the fantastic opportunity to
showcase our people, our culture, our heritage." And even though
Lipa is not officially scheduled to perform this year as she
manages the festival from the sidelines and watches performances
from the VIP section, the spotlight remains fixated on her. "In
the United States, we say God save America," rapper Mozzik
shouted to the audience during his set. "I say 'God Save Dua
Lipa'". ih-cbo/ds/gv
/ (ANSA-AFP).
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