Sunny Hill Festival-goers in Kosovo Welcome New Location, not New Prices

“It is the fourth time I came to the festival,” she told BIRN on Thursday evening, as this year’s edition kicked off, recalling the first event in 2018, when global Kosovo Albanian star Dua Lipa, who together with her father Dukagjin, founded the festival, held her first concert in Prishtina.

Global pop start Dua Lipa at Sunny Hill festival’s VIP stand, July 25, 2024. Photo: BIRN

“So far I have never been disappointed with the organisation,” Diellza said, sitting on a straw bale in one of the festival’s Chill Zones, waiting for the performance of the first headliner, an ethnic Albanian from North Macedonia, Bebe Rexha.

Many festival-goers shared the same opinion, appreciating the opportunity to have a global level festival close to home and in a new location that allows everyone to enjoy themselves without pushing each other.

“I am a ‘believer’ not only because I am a Dua Lipa fan but because this is the only festival in Kosovo that brings an international spirit and shows us what a proper festival looks like,” Diellza said.

Internationally famous singer/songwriter, Bebe Rexha, an ethnic Albanian from North Macedonia, performing at Sunny Hill festival in Prishtina, July 25, 2024. Photo: BIRN

Many festival-goers shared the same opinion, appreciating the opportunity to have a global level festival close to home and in a new location that allows everyone to enjoy themselves without pushing each other.

“I am a ‘believer’ not only because I am a Dua Lipa fan but because this is the only festival in Kosovo that brings an international spirit and shows us what a proper festival looks like,” Diellza said.

Festivalgoers at Kosovo’s Sunny Hill Festival on Thursday, July 25, 2024. Photo: BIRN

Kosovo’s economy definitely benefits from the annual music festival, which generates millions of euros over just one week, but the ticket prices are a financial headache for hard-pressed locals.

Kosovo’s Agency for Statistics says the average minimum salary for those under 35 in Kosovo is only 130 euros per month, and 170 euros for people between 35 and 65. That’s less than the price of a regular ticket.

In past years, the festival was held in the protected Gërmia park, which drew criticism for damaging nature. This year, it has its own new site in the village of Bërnicë, on the outskirts of Pristina. “We have transformed a place from a waste dump into a city park,” Dukagjin Lipa told BIRN in an interview. According to Lipa, the 17-hectare site provided by the Pristina municipality for 99 years will help the festival to grow.

One of the ‘Chill Zones’ at the Sunny Hill festival, where festivalgoers can sit and relax. Photo: BIRN

The participants agree the move was a good idea. “The noise will not annoy anyone because it’s far from human settlements,” attendee Hana said.

Diellza agrees that the change of location “is very good because everyone has the right space and they don’t push each other”.

Festival-goers, however, do not all appreciate the higher prices, which some say have not translated into a better lineup than the previous editions.

Hana would not have gotten her ticket at all if her best friend had not won two in a lottery run by a local business. 

Diellza’s much younger cousin said she depended for her ticket on her parents, who did not immediately agree to buy her a “believer” ticket for 100 euros – which is around half the price of a regular one.