Cambodia closed Kazantip before it even started
Phnom Penh - Kyiv, February 03 (PolitNavigator, Vasily Ablyazimov) - The organizers of the famous electronic music festival Kazantip, due to disagreement with the “annexation of Russia,” refused to hold the event on the peninsula. Russian authorities accused the organizers of the massive distribution of drugs. Kazantip was held in Georgia in 2014, and in 2015 it was supposed to take place in Cambodia, but the country's authorities closed the festival before its official opening.
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Local publication The Phnom Penh Post reports that authorities closed the festival due to concerns about the promotion and dissemination of obscenity. Kazantip was scheduled to take place in Sihanoukville, on the island of Puos, from February 18th to 28th.
Cambodia's Tourism Minister Thong Hon said the festival was closed due to a reputation for "obscenity" and the practice of "naked dancing."
“Cambodia does not have a policy of promoting indecent culture; tourism in the country is national culture and nature,” the publication quotes Minister Khon. “We do not support naked dancing, as it corrupts the national culture, we do not allow the festival.”
Festival organizer Artem Kharchenko is confident the festival will take place. He says Kazantip is new to the country and there may be "some hesitation." Kharchenko is confident, according to The Phnom Penh Post , that "people will recognize the festival as a celebration of art and culture."
The country's authorities do not share the organizer's optimism.
Cambodia closed Kazantip before it even started.