Gnaoua Festival: When tagnaouite becomes a source of magic and harmony

The parade of Festival Gnaoua and world music is a great celebration for all Gnaoua mâalems. “All the mâalems come together at the Essaouira Festival and give their best for their audience,” says mâalem Aboubakr Seddik from Agadir. Dressed in a colorful outfit in harmony with his vibrant notes, this mâalem accompanies Mehdi Qamoum, nicknamed “MediCament”. Both are distinguished by their bright outfits, their interaction with the audience and the captivating sounds that resonate throughout the old Mogador.

“Music is a love that the Gnaoui mâalems can only welcome with open hearts and above all share with their audience. Notes, rhythm and voice are gifts that each mâalem carefully preserves. The difference lies in the interaction with the public. Each mâalem has a particular method and energy that it shares with the public,” Qamoum tells us during the opening parade of the 25th Gnaoua and World Music Festival. The Gnaoua mâalems call this “lhedda”. This symbiosis between guembri masters and the public is unique.

For Mehdi and Aboubakr, the Essaouira parade has pure energy brought by Gnaoua mâalems from all over Morocco, intended to brighten up this city known for its strong energy and to satisfy a large audience coming from all over the Kingdom and from different countries.

Indeed, this annual event becomes the convergence point where passion, tradition and musical innovation meet, captivating both music lovers and the curious from the four corners of the globe.

At the Gnaoua Festival, we meet eminent mâalems, who have shaped entire generations and young apprentices who come to soak up the beautiful atmosphere of the event. This is the case of this little 10-year-old girl accompanied by her grandfather, a great mâalem gnaoui, who came to nourish her love for tagnaouite and aspire to a career in this field. She follows in the footsteps of Asmaa Hamzaoui, a pioneer as the first woman to have dared to play the guembri, the sacred instrument of the gnaouas, in public.

“The Gnaoua and World Music Festival is the opening parade, but it is also the lilacs, the fusions and all the concerts shared with music lovers. These are irreplaceable moments and a story of transmission,” explains Qamoum.

It is the reputation of the Gnaoua mâalems at the international level that attracts thousands of spectators from all over the world. “This is the sixth time that we have come from Germany to Essaouira to see the Gnaoua Festival,” says an astonished tourist, alongside her husband, in front of the colorful parade of the twenty-fifth Gnaoua and world music Festival. Another fan came from Greece to discover live “these rhythms heard in her country and so praised by her friends”.

For “MediCament”, who has toured all over the world, the atmosphere in Essaouira is uneven. The stage name of this Gadiri artist illustrates the ability of Gnaoua music to heal souls through its strong spiritual charge. Mehdi Qamoum is a singer, songwriter and musician who draws his roots from Gnaoua music while being part of the World Music line. Faithful to the guembri, Mehdi has developed his own personal project, based on Moroccan culture and African sounds and harmonies, mixed with more modern sounds of rock and blues. On June 28, he will be at Borj Bab Marrakech at 7 p.m. for a fusion with Senegalese artist Ablaye Cissoko.

The impact of the Festival Gnaoua and world music is not only musical. “This local dynamism that we are witnessing is the image of the relationship between culture and economic development. Essaouira hosts cultural activities throughout the year that encourage its economy,” declared, on June 27, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaïd, at the opening of the Festival.

Indeed, during the festival, the alleys of the medina of Essaouira come alive with a special energy. Craft stalls crowded with buyers and curious onlookers proudly display colorful displays of traditional objects, jewelry, textiles, etc. Souvenir merchants offer original and ingenious items, created especially for the festival. Young people, often overflowing with creativity, improvise as traders during the festival and present amusing items, attracting the attention of curious passers-by.

Women from different African countries enrich the atmosphere by offering simple or colorful braids in symbiosis with the spirit of the Festival. Cafes and restaurants, nestled in different corners of the city, are filled with customers savoring local and international dishes. Even if the prices increase during the festival, the crowd does not weaken. Street musicians and artists’ rehearsals add a festive soundtrack to this magical Gnaoua Festival experience. Throughout the Gnaoua and World Music Festival, the streets of Essaouira become an open-air theater where cultures and generations meet.