To me, more than anything else, Festivalbar was a feeling. The feeling that each edition of this internationally-acclaimed singing contest, performed in some of the most important cities and piazzas in Italy, would unfailingly come to mark the beginning of a new summer filled with bouncy mainstream hits and carefree moments.

Stages from Milan’s Piazza del Duomo all the way down to the Piazza del Duomo in Catania were graced by a roster of major Italian and foreign singers in vogue, ready to lip-sync to their debut songs and previously released jams. Gemelli Diversi, R.E.M, Zucchero, Manu Chao, Jamiroquai, Neffa, Las Ketchup, Lùnapop, Anastacia, Kylie Minogue. The fashion was peak Y2K, and high-definition video recording smartphones and Insta-filtered concert selfies were but a distant thought.