VILNIUS - Be2Gether, a one-of-akindopen-air musicfestival taking placenear the Belarusian borderAug. 24 - 26, is setting out toconnect various culturesthrough music, dance andart.To achieve that noblegoal it'll bring in some bignamebands from aroundthe world including TheBloodhound Gang and TheNew York Ska BandEnsemble along with U.K.artists The Young Knivesand Morcheeba.More than 30 popularbands and well-known DJswill hit center stage in thefields outside ofNorviliskes Castle, 80 kilometersfrom Vilnius.
They'll be joined bywe l l - k n o w nartists from aroundLithuania as well as fromIceland, Finland, Belarus,Latvia and Poland.The festival's motto,"Music Opens Borders,"celebrates the differenttastes in music everyonehas, the show's manager,Giedrius Klimkevicius,stated in a press release.The theme also fits inwith the 50th Anniversarycelebration of theEuropean Union and theVilnius Capital of Culture2009, according to pressrepresentative Rytis Sabas."The basic idea is tobring the cultural eventtogether for peoplefrom different countries.We need toshow this throughcommunicatingwith music,"Sabas said.Klimkevicius,the mastermindbehind theBe2Gether project,is known foropening upLithuania's firstindependent recordcompany, "ZonaRecords" and for takingan active role inthe tourism industry.He spearheaded therenovation of the16th century castleand has been planningthis outdoorevent since lastNovember.
The line-upincludes musiciansfrom allthree Balticc o u n t r i e s :L i t h u a n i a nartists AndriusMamontovas, Skamp, G&GSindikatas, Pieno Iazeriaiand Metal on Metal; Tribesof the City from Latvia;and Estonia's Tanel Paderand the Sun, which is frontedby the winner of the2001 Eurovision SongContest.Much of the music combinesrock, hip hop, postpunkand electro. NorthernIreland's band Therapy?use drums and bass instrumentsin their performances,while showing metal,jazz, new age and tranceinfluences.Belarusian rock bandsLyapis Trubetskoy andIQ48, the Norwegian trioDatarock, Leaves fromIceland, Poets of the Fallfrom Finland and theBloodhoung Gang from theU.S. are also scheduled torock the night away on thetwo stages.
Organizers are preparinga dance nightclub thatwill feature world-classDJs. DJ Food and DK, AlexGopher, and Boogaloo willspin electro, funky tunes.Games, art and food showswill take place on the festivalgrounds too."The expectations arevery big. We want this to bea tradition for Lithuania,"Sabas said.The best part of the festival,he said, is the factthat people will be comingacross borders to be activeparticipants. Sabas saidseveral buses have beenarranged to bring in over60 journalists from Belarusand Kaliningrad for theshow.
Be2GetherAug. 24 - 26Norviliskes Castle
www.b2g.lttickets140 litas,
www.tiketa.lt
