‘Despacito’ superstar to sing at Da Nang summer fest

Puerto Rican artist Luis Fonsi sings in a concert. Photo by AFP

Organizers said that Cocofest 2018 music festival, held July 6-7, will feature a roster of international and domestic artists, most of who are yet to be announced.

The event, which will include street dancing, camping and many other activities, is expected to attract over 30,000 visitors.

“We will bring you a true music festival experience,” said Viet Tu, director of Cocofest 2018. He said the event also aims to boost Da Nang’s tourism profile.

Luis Fonsi, born Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero, took the music industry by storm with his Latin pop song “Despacito” sung in collaboration with fellow Puerto Rican artist Daddy Yankee.

The music video had garnered 5.2 billion views on YouTube as of June 6, breaking the record for most-viewed Youtube video in history.

The previous record-holder was another music video “See You Again” by American artist Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, which was at 3.5 billion views as of June 6.

“Despacito,” translated into English as “Slowly,” snatched four Latin Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Urban Fusion/ Performance and Best Short Form Music video last year. It was also ranked the fifth best Latin song of all time by New York-based entertainment media brand Billboard last year.

Da Nang is one of the top tourist destinations in Vietnam. In the first quarter of this year, the central coastal city attracted 1.69 million tourists, up 34.7% against the same period last year. More than 819,000 were foreign arrivals, up 58.9%.