The Sunny Hill Festival is an annual international

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

, organised by

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

and her father Dukagjin Lipa. Though intended to take place annually since 2018, the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Editions

2018

The first edition of the festival took place on 10 to 12 August 2018 at the

Germia Park Germia ( sq, Parku i Gërmisë, sr-cyr, Грмија) is a regional park located in the northeast of Prishtina, Kosovo, and covers an area of 62 square kilometres. This mountain massif is a part of the Rhodope Mountains, which lie from the Black ...

, near

. According to the organizers, more than 18,000 people attended the festival. However, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reported that the venue's capacity of 15,000 seats had not been filled. The cost of the tickets was $55, which was criticized by many due to the high unemployment rate, especially among young people. The festival was organized by the singer Dua Lipa together with her father to raise money for the Sunny Hill Foundation. Dua Lipa was the headliner and her father also performed with his band, ODA and belonged to another line-up alongside many artists from Kosovo and Albania, among other Action Bronson and

Martin Garrix Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix and also as Ytram and GRX, is a Dutch disc jockey and music producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—201 ...

. Bronson, who is a supporter of the legalization of cannabis, was arrested by the Kosovar police after his performance at the festival for smoking a joint on stage and sharing it with the audience.

2019

The second edition of the Sunny Hill Festival took place on 2, 3 and 4 August 2019 at the Gërmia Park in Pristina. The festival featured performances by international acts, including

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter who has released six studio albums. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'', was released in June ...

, Gashi,

Klangkarussell Klangkarussell (German: Sound Carousel) is an Austrian electronic music duo formed in 2011. The two members of the group are Tobias Rieser and Adrian Held. Their biggest hit to date is "Sonnentanz", which reached the top 10 in six countries (Aust ...

and

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

as well as Dua Lipa, in addition to several musicians of Albanian origin, namely Buta, Elvana Gjata,

Ilira Ilira Gashi (; born 29 October 1994), known professionally as Ilira, is a Swiss singer and songwriter. In 2018, she signed to Four Music and released her debut single "Whisper My Name". Early life Ilira Gashi was born on 29 October 1994 in ...

Kejsi Tola Kejsi Tola (; born 3 May 1992) is an Albanian singer and songwriter. She represented Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia, after winning the 47th edition of ''Festivali i Këngës''. Life and career Kejsi Tola was b ...

Kida KIDA, VHF analog channel 5, was an independent television station licensed to Sun Valley, Idaho, United States. Founded October 25, 2000, the station was owned by Turner Enterprises. History It carried programming from UPN at its sign-on; h ...

, Ledri Vula,

Lyrical Son Festim Arifi (; born 28 January 1984), known professionally as Lyrical Son, is a Kosovo-Albanian rapper and songwriter. Born and raised in Pristina, Arifi is credited as a viable hip hop artist in the Albanian-speaking Balkans.Top famous artist w ...

MC Kresha Kreshnik Fazliu (; born 5 September 1984), known professionally as MC Kresha, is a Kosovo-Albanian rapper and songwriter. Born and raised in Mitrovica, Fazliu is credited as a viable hip hop artist in the Albanian-speaking Balkans. Life and ca ...

Njomza Njomza Vitia (; ; born 22 April 1994), known professionally as Njomza, is an American singer and songwriter. She is currently signed with Capitol, Motown, and SinceThe80s. Since 2013, she has released one mixtape and three EPs. Life and career ...

and Yll Limani who performed as well.

2020-2021

Due to the

, the festival did not take place in 2020 and 2021.

2022

In July 2021, Dua Lipa announced that a third edition of the Sunny Hill Festival has been scheduled to take place in 2022 in Pristina on 4–7 August. On 14 June 2022, Sunny Hill Festival through a post on the official

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account confirmed that the festival has moved from Pristina to

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

due to delays from authorities in providing the needed licenses for the location. Six days later, Sunny Hill Festival again through a post on the official

account confirmed that the festival returns to Pristina and will be held from 4 to 7 August, while the edition in Tirana will be held from 26 to 28 August.

References

External links

* {{Albanian music Dua Lipa Music festivals in Kosovo Music festivals in Albania 2018 music festivals 2019 music festivals 2022 music festivals