(7 Jun 2021) LEAD IN:
Albania has staged a five-day beach music festival, amid relaxing coronavirus restrictions, as new infections fall.
Last year's Unum Festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. This year, organizers struggled to gather acts from across Europe, due to varying restrictions in different countries.
STORY-LINE:
After months of coronavirus lockdowns and virus restrictions, these music fans are feeling the beat again.
Unum Festival organizers sold all 10,000 tickets, with more requests from music fans around the world, hoping to forget virus restrictions and escape to the non-stop five-day bash.
Held on Rana e Hedhun (Thrown Sand) beach, 75 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of Albanian capital Tirana, the festival has gathered some 50 international and local acts.
There are attendees from several countries, including France, Spain, Serbia, Kosovo, and Germany, even as far away as Uruguay.
"I feel awesome, I feel free, I feel like normal, really. No event could make me feel more normal and free than a festival," says attendee Samela from Belgrade.
"The first-time dancing after one year," laughs attendee Katia Muelle from Germany.
Last year, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to coronavirus restrictions.
This year, they found it difficult to gather acts from across Europe, due to varying restrictions in different countries.
But they worked with local authorities to align legislation and virus protection guidelines.
Every attendee has delivered a negative COVID-19 test, they say.
All attendees use wristbands as their entry ticket and pay for drinks and food using bank cards.
"It was necessary for mental health, actually, a lot of people lost their minds during the pandemic. People don't pay much attention to mental health, but it is really important for the well-being of everything," says DJ Rron Kurtolli.
"We have taken all the precautions... so we are confident we are going to come out of this happier and much more sane."
During the last month, Albania has reported just two daily coronavirus infections, both last Saturday.
In a public statement, the country's foreign ministry said there are now no restrictions for anyone wanting to visit.
"It's obviously a big challenge for us to put on a festival with what's happened in the last year," says festival director, Grego O'Halloran.
"The challenges have been really difficult mainly because of things like travelling, restrictions, not just here but in other countries, so we really had to fight hard to get through all those problems to a point where we can do it safely, and happily, and in a nice way."
In recent years, tourism has become a main financial resource for Albania, one of Europe's poorest countries.
Just like in other countries, tourism was negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, keeping tourists away when authorities hoped to boost the sector to ten percent of GDP.
Neighbouring Albanians from Kosovo remain the main source of tourists so far, often accompanied by Polish and Czech groups, fewer Serbs, and Belarussians.
With its 300-mile coastline, Albania has plenty of blissful beaches, helping it on the global tourism stage.
But it's still dragging behind more experienced neighbours Greece and Croatia.
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