Music festival in Baghdad

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. Hundreds of  teenagers clapped along exuberantly to techno beats pumping across a makeshift dance hall on Friday night (Aug 16), a scene their capital had not witnessed in decades. Neon red, yellow and white stage lights helped transform the basketball court in the People’s Stadium in central part of town into a club for the “Summer Festival”, the first celebration of its kind in the city.