Ypsigrock and the power of once

Additional Photography by Elisabetta Brian. How did a small inland mountain town with no record store become a Sicilian music mecca, drawing fans from everywhere to party in its piazzas? Like many a good story, it started with a dream. Okay, not a literal dream, this isn’t Fellini’s 8½, but in the interests of painting a picture, think of the late ‘90s, two grunge kids, and a burning thirst for music that felt like it was all that really mattered. Born in Castelbuono, among the rocky peaks and olive tree-lined valleys of the Madonie national park, Vincenzo Barreca and Gianfranco Raimondo grew tired of always having to travel to see their favourite bands. What if, instead of bringing the mountain to the music, they could bring the music to the mountain and make it feel at home? When they founded Ypsigrock in 1997, that’s exactly what they set out to do.Named after the Byzantine village of Ypsigro, where Castelbuono now stands, the festival nearly went the way of the empire after just its first edition. Not everyone, it seemed, shared the founders’ appetite for change, and it took about a decade for the locals to fully catch on. While tech bros drool alone over moving fast and breaki...