People look at yachts in a marina in Beirut, Lebanon, on July 6, 2022. In the 2000s, Lebanon's boat industry saw glamorous times. However, the scene is completely different today. The Beirut Marina is half empty, let alone the other 14 marinas spreading across the country.(Photo: Xinhua)

Lebanon's international music festivals kicked off at the weekend with a performance in the Roman ruins of Baalbek, the first performance there since the country's economic crisis.

Under the title of "Baalbek Nights Return," conductor Lubnan Baalbaki - whose first name means "Lebanon" and whose last name means "from Baalbek" - led the orchestra on Friday night alongside his sister, singer Soumaya.

The country once held several music festivals every summer, drawing international acts every weekend. 

In 2022, the modest reopenings feature almost exclusively Lebanese performers.

Members of the audience in Baalbek swayed and sang along as Soumaya crooned Arabic tunes on a stage set up inside the temple of Bacchus, her silver gown glittering under the spotlights.

She performed traditional ballads as well as original songs written by Lebanese poets and scored by her brother.

For many, the evening was a welcome escape from the crises that have hit Lebanon over the last three years.

A financial meltdown described by the World Bank as one of the worst since the industrial revolution has led to rampant power cuts and medicine shortages across the country.

Lebanese have been further strained by the Beirut port blast of 2020 and several waves of the coronavirus pandemic.

"This is an exceptional day," Soumaya told Reuters after the performance. "Despite all the difficulties that have shadowed our work, we put on this festival. It's an act of defiance - an act of faith in this country, in its image as a nation of art, culture and soft power that generates change."

It was her first ever performance in her namesake city. Her brother last performed there in 2019, just months before Lebanon's collapse began.

Reuters