Essaouira.. “Gnaoua Festival” will witness a unique blend of three cultures included in the UNESCO World Heritage List
The organizers of the 25th edition of the Gnaoua and World Music Festival, which will be held from June 27 to 29 in Essaouira, announced that the opening ceremony of this event will witness a unique blend of three cultures included in the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage List.
The organizers highlighted in a statement, reported by the Moroccan News Agency, that the program of this session, which brings together more than 400 artists from 14 countries, includes about 53 concerts, a human rights forum, a training program with the prestigious music institution Berklee College of Music, roundtables on Gnawa culture, a joint art exhibition to present the works of Moroccan artists and many activities throughout the city.
They explained that “this exceptional session will open with two prominent parts that will leave a lasting impression: the traditional and joyful opening show that brings together the local corners. It is a colorful show led by Gnaoua masters who will tour the squares and alleys of the city to meet the Souiris and the festival-goers and celebrate together the launch of the twenty-fifth session.”
The same source added that the opening show will be followed by a unique concert, which is a musical innovation for the festival that will celebrate transatlantic brotherhood by bringing together musicians and dancers from Morocco, Brazil, Spain and Ivory Coast, constituting “a true musical and visual experience, and an explosion of rhythms that blend Gnawa genres.” Brazilian batucada, flamenco, and zaouli will reveal to festival-goers the similarities between arts coming from different horizons.”
This show will also witness, for the first time, the exceptional encounter between three artistic genres inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List (Gnawa, Flamenco and Zaouli), as masters Hassan Bousso and Moulay Tayeb Eddahbi will blend their spiritual touches with the rhythms of the committed Brazilian group Elie Aye, a group of percussionists who promote the African component of Bahian music.
The Domanli group, which practices zaouli (the Ivorian folk art that combines, in the same performance, mask, costume, music and dance), will meet the flamenco artist Nino de los Reyes, accompanied by percussionist Sergio Martinez.
The Gnaoua and World Music Festival's programming has also been carefully designed to offer a wide range of musical genres and artists and to embrace demanding and popular selections.
The organizers pointed out that the festival offers “a bold and comprehensive program, which is the distinctive feature of this event that offers its visitors and fans, every session, a unique experience in the world.”
This year, the festival is expected to attract more than 400,000 visitors from about forty countries and all over Morocco.
Source : websites