Georgia crisis adds an edge to Lithuania music fest

Norviliskes, Aug 17: Rock and techno fans have flocked to this frontier town for a politically-charged music festival this weekend that has acquired an edge due to the conflict in Georgia.For the second year running, the southeast Lithuanian hamlet of Norviliskes is the deeply-symbolic venue for Be2gether, where the bill this year features Britain`s Tricky and Groove Armada, and France`s Etienne de Crecy. The three-day festival, which ends Sunday, is literally on the eastern rim of the European Union. Only a few dozen metres (yards) from the five stages is the border fence with Belarus, whose President Alexander Lukashenko is branded "Europe`s last dictator" by detractors in the West. "We wanted to have a festival that would bring people together, and try to break down the borders that people have inside their heads," said Egle Remeikaite, one of the organisers of the event, which gets around a fifth of its 20-million-euro (29.5-million-dollar) budget from the Lithuanian government. Bureau Report