White color festival in Lebanon's Tripoli defies political parties and sends a message of hope

Record ID: 1641074

  • Title: White color festival in Lebanon's Tripoli defies political parties and sends a message of hope
  • Date: 11th October 2021
  • Summary: FESTIVAL ATTENDEES WITH HANDS IN THE AIR (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FESTIVAL ATTENDEE, NOUR AL ZEIN, SAYING: "The festival is beautiful and makes people happy, although we are going through tough times and a hard economic situation. This gives us hope that there's still a beautiful life, and beautiful days coming." VARIOUS OF CROWD CLAPPING
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2021 12:16
  • Keywords: Colors Crisis Festival Lebanon Tripoli politics
  • Location: TRIPOLI, LEBANON
  • City: TRIPOLI, LEBANON
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA004EYPT8B9
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hundreds of Lebanese youth gathered in Tripoli in a festival of colors where they were sprayed with white powder, a symbol of defiance targeting political parties.
    Unlike previous times when festival attendees were sprayed with numerous colors, this year only white was used to also send a message of hope.
    "We are using the white color this time, because all other colors are related to political parties. We don't belong to any party, white color represents us, it's the color of freedom, justice, the new life without any political party," event organizer, Bilal Aljamal said.
    Participants gathered in front of a stage and enjoyed throwing white powder on each other as they sang and swayed to blaring music.
    "The festival is beautiful and makes people happy, although we are going through tough times and a hard economic situation. This gives us hope that there's still a beautiful life, and beautiful days coming," Nour al Zein, who attended the festival said.
    Tripoli's municipality granted the festival permission on the premise that young citizens need a space to feel free to vent and call for a normal life.
    The violence that has taken place in the shadow of the ongoing economic and political crises in Lebanon, has reached an alarming level in Tripoli, the poorest region within the country.
    (Production: Walid Saleh, Alaa Kanaan)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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