Visual of the opening concert of the Gnaoua and World Music Festival. Credit: The Desk.
The opening of the 25th edition of the Gnaoua and World Music Festival promises to be colorful, with two highlights which will mark the launch of an edition “ exceptional “, according to the organizers. Thus, as usual, the kick-off will be given first with the traditional and thunderous opening parade bringing together all the brotherhoods present and a show led by the Maâlems Gnaoua, wandering through the streets, meeting the Souris and the festival-goers, in order to celebrate this event together.
The Parade will then be followed by a concert “ unpublished “. To mark the launch of this edition, the organizers have chosen to celebrate transatlantic brotherhood through a musical creation of the Festival which brings together musicians and dancers from Morocco, Brazil, Spain and Ivory Coast. Festival-goers will be there with a “ true musical and visual experience and an explosion of rhythms », mixing the genres Gnaoua, Brazilian Batucada, Flamenco and Zaouli to put their similarities into perspective.
This show will also mark, for the first time, the extraordinary meeting between three genres classified on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list (Gnaoua, Flamenco and Zaouli). The great Maâlem Hassan Boussou and the fiery Maâlem Moulay Tayeb Dehbi will exchange their spiritual notes with their Brazilian alter-egos, the very committed Ilê Aiyê, a brilliant ensemble of percussionists who promote the African component of Bahian music. The Dumanlé Company, which practices Zaouli, an Ivorian folk art which combines mask, costume, music and dance in the same show, will face the percussive Zapateado of Flamenco dancer Nino de Los Reyes accompanied by percussionist Sergio Martinez. A highly anticipated merger that will undoubtedly go down in history.
This year again, the programming of the Gnaoua and World Music Festival has been carefully designed, add the organizers. This program, it is indicated, will bring together more than 400 artists from 14 countries. In addition to the 53 concerts planned, a human rights forum, a training program with the prestigious musical institution Berklee College of Music, round tables on Gnaoua culture, as well as a major exhibition of Moroccan artists and numerous activities at across the city are planned.
Objective of this programming “ bold » et « inclusive »: combine a wide variety of musical genres and artists, while making demanding and popular choices, with a range of activities in order to captivate the approximately 400,000 festival-goers that Essaouira will welcome from around forty countries and all of Morocco and give them a unique experience.
