Pavarotti, Sting, Robbie Williams and Youssou N'Dour to perform at major Italian music festival in support of Jubilee 2000

 

Sting, Youssou N'Dour, Robbie Williams, Oasis and the maestro Luciano Pavarotti have confirmed that they will perform at an international pop music festival in Italy in support of Jubilee 2000. The concert in San Remo is an annual festival held from the 21^st to 26^th February and one of the biggest Italian TV events in the year. Italy's own star, Jovanotti, will be launching the support for the debt campaign, and host Fabio Fazio will keep the theme of debt building up to the climax of the San Remo festival. Throughout the festival, artists will speak about the debt campaign on stage and in press conferences.

At a press conference on 10 January, Fabio Fazio said the festival was backing the Jubilee 2000 campaign "to transmit a message of great value and increase the international aspect of the well-known music festival in the wake of the commitment that the music world has shown for years towards important social issues, from Live Aid on. This year our commitment is not only necessary but due."

Renowned tenor singer, Luciano Pavarotti said that his support for the campaign is one of the main reasons for his participation in San Remo. He noted that whilst leaders were taking steps in the right direction, he hoped they would go further.

The singers were backed up by Staffan De Mistura, director of the Rome UN Office, who said that “the debt burden in the world's poorest countries is one of the most important problems we have to face in the year 2000". He stated his hope that San Remo would awaken the Italian nation so that it could "seize this year's opportunity, when the whole world is looking at Italy - host nation of the Jubilee's main events - to give a decisive sign towards change and establish fair and sustainable economic relations between the North and the South of the planet." He added: " I would like to list the 2000 Festival among the initiatives giving the decisive boost to solve the debt problem ...at the beginning of the new millennium."

Luca De Fraia, co-ordinator of the Italian Jubilee 2000 campaign “Sdebitarsi” thanked the Festival and the musicians for their support. "This confirms the commitment of the music world that is already strongly contributing at international level to the cause of our Coalition. This also stresses the importance of our issue, that receives a particular symbolic meaning in the year of the Jubilee, traditionally devoted to cancel debts and allowing the land rest."

San Remo Festival's support for the campaign is just the latest in a series of music events which have helped promote Jubilee 2000 to a mass audience. The Brits music awards raised huge public awareness of the debt crisis in early 1999 fuelling political pressure on the British government in advance of the Cologne G8 Summit. Since then, the Netaid concerts, and a series of awards to Bono for his work on Jubilee 2000, such as the prestigious NRJ Awards in Cannes, have helped boost the profile of Jubilee 2000 across the globe.