The 4th Edition of the Festival de l’Etrange will be held at the Alliance franco-marocaine from the 9 th December 2010 to the 22nd of January 2011 in Essaouira.
A mix of music, photographic exhibition and cinema representing more than 150 artists with the partecipation of the french theatre companies « Sans Paradis Fixe » & « Marie est de la nuit »
Alliance Franco-Marocaine
Derb Lâalouj
9 rue Mohammed Diouri
44 000 Essaouira
Tél : +212 (0)5 24 47 61 97 / 62 14
The International Film Festival of Marrakech, presided by John Malkovich, will pay tribute to France during its tenth edition, which will take place from December 3rd to December 11th.
This year, the competition includes 15 films focused on the new and emerging talents in worldwide cinema with 10 debut feature films and 3 sophomore feature films selected, altogether representing 15 different nationalities.
For more info: http://en.festivalmarrakech.info
This Sunday (25 April) is the finale of the Regraga pilgrimage, with a fantasia at Had’Dra.
The Regraga originate from the Chiadma region to the north of Essaouira, and their ancestors are said to have made the Hajj to Mecca, received the blessing of the Prophet and introduced the Quran to Morocco. Every year they and a host of pilgrims go on a marathon 38-day tour of shrines across the region, erecting holy tents and bestowing ‘baraka’ on the crowds who follow them.
About 30 days ago they came to Essaouira, bringing with them a new energy to the town as the locals’ friends and families descended from the countryside to celebrate this popular annual festival, filling up the houses and streets with hustle and bustle. The parade progressed down the main street to the beat of drums, with the pilgrims throwing water and blessings. It’s fascinating to watch the Moroccans being cornered by the pilgrims, demanding dirhams in exchange for a blessing, and an interesting custom is that unmarried women who stroke the white horse which forms part of the cortege, will apparently increase their chances of finding a husband.
The locals say that with the Regraga comes a wind that makes the wheat dance and other crops grow – and as is so often the case here, they managed to find time for serious shopping at a market to the north end of town, which went on long into the night and, given the lack of street lighting in that area, proved that Moroccans can even shop in total darkness.
From Thursday 29 April to Saturday 1 May Essaouira hosts this annual spring festival of classical music. The concerts will take place at Dar Souiri, the Alliance Francaise and in a concert tent at Bab Manzah.
Highlights will include a performance of Carmina Burana; songs from Falla, Bizet and Debussy, and an operatic evening including arias from operas by Mozart, Donizetti and Offenbach. Read more.
Just back from Essaouira where we enjoyed the Festival des Andalousies Atlantiques – a genuinely multicultural event which brought together people of all religions to celebrate Andalusian classical music – from which developed Flamenco and other more familiar styles. In its heyday (the Middle Ages) the Andalusian culture extended from Spain to Morocco and other parts of North Africa, and after the Muslims and Jews were expelled from Spain in the 15th century – many of them fleeing to Morocco - the diaspora has kept it alive.
Andre Azoulay, one of the most high-profile Jews in the Arab world – who was born in Essaouira and is an advisor to the Moroccan king – is a driving force of the festival. He told Associated French Press: “The music you hear is a reality in the hearts and minds of millions Moroccans, both Jews and Muslims. But today when you talk about Jews and Muslims, the subject is … rarely something that brings us together. That is why this festival is so dear to me.”
The Festival of the Atlantic Andalusias will be held in Essaouira from the 29th October till the 1st of November.
Held for the first time in 2003, the Festival encourages peaceful coexistence and cultural exchange, it also celebrates the Andalusian contibution to the cultures of Spain, North Africa and Latin America.
This year it will focus on a Moroccan Jewish musical tradition known as Matrouz. Rabbi Haim Louk will sing accompanied by the Zyriab Orchestra and the Franco-Algerian pianist Maurice El Medioni will perform with the Jewish Moroccan singer Raymonde el Bedaouia.
The Festival will pay a posthumous tribute to 1950s singer Zohra Fassi who was a militant for he peaceful coexistence of Jews and Muslims in Morocco.
Bands that have previously performed at the festival includes: the Radio-Tarifa Band, Pedro Solar, Javier Ruibal, Tauria Hadraoui, Guason and Samira Kadiri.
First held in November 2005, the Arts in Marrakech (AiM) International Biennale is the major Trilingual (English,Arabic & French) festival in North Africa. Focusing on cutting-edge contemporary art and literature it heralded Marrakech as a new destination in the arts and literature world alongside Venice, Edinburgh and Miamy.
AiM International Biennale 3rd Edition:Opening Thursday 19th-Monday 23rd November 2009.
This year’s edition promises to be full of innovation, inspiration and intrigue with newly commissioned works by Francis Alys, Loredana Longo, Seamus Farrell, Franck Bragigand, Faouzi Bensaidi & Yto Barrada. Attendees will also include Turner-nominee Isaac Julien, Al Jazeera English presenter Rageh Omar, BBC TV arts executive Alan Yentob, award-winning Moroccan film director Faouzi Bensaidi, among others.
Listen to the BBC Radio 3 broadcast with Lucy Duran and learn more about the festival, Morocco and its people
enjoy it!!
This year’s Gnaoua Festival will take place in Essaouira from 25 to 28 June. Headline acts include the legendary Frank Vaillant, Jaleel Shaw, Andy Narell, 3MA, Justin Adams, KyMani Marley, Kif Samba, Ganga Vibes and Jbara. For more details visit www.festival-gnaoua.net.
To listen to artists playing at last year’s event visit www.last.fm/listen/event/568749.
