Beats replace bombs: Young Iraqis revel at summer festival

SUMMER FESTIVAL. Youths dance during an electronic dance music event, during the annual Baghdad Summer Festival at the People's Hall in the Iraqi capital on August 16, 2019. Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP

The party started at noon with a car show: classic cars, souped-up four-wheelers and motorcycles with proud owners revving their engines. Though there were only a few young women among the 1,000 or so revellers, their presence was notable in a country where public spaces remain conservative."I hear a lot of people say that we're influenced by the West. Fine, there's no difference to me – the important thing is I don't have to listen to this music at home in secret anymore," she said, pumping her fist into the air.

Iraq has been hit by nearly 4 decades of conflict, from a devastating war with Iran in the 1980s to the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.in 2014, only defeated territorially in late 2017.

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