Casa Music festival delights visitors

22/07/2008

The fourth Casa Music festival held from July 17th-20th was a huge success. For four days the festival lit up the night atmosphere of the largest districts of Morocco’s economic capital.

By Hassan Benmehdi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 22/07/08

[Hassan Benmehdi] Casablanca turned out in large numbers over the weekend for the fourth annual Casa Music festival. Highlights included a fireworks show and star musicians from Lebanon and the United States.

The fourth annual Casa Music festival, held July 17th-20th in Casablanca, brought entertainment to some 2 million spectators in Morocco's economic capital. This year, Moroccan and foreign artists representing a variety of musical genres performed at twelve different public venues.

The organisers – the Forum Casablanca association and Casablanca city authorities – said all the necessary ingredients came together to make the fourth festival an unforgettable event.

Artistic director Mohamed Abkari said this year's success owes to the richness of the programme, adding that this year's festival extended beyond the city of Casablanca.

"Mohammedia, Mediouna, Nouacer and la Villa des Arts are all new venues added to last year's four venues," he said. "Our aim was to expand the festival to reach out to a larger number of people."

Forum Casablanca President Ahmed Ammour said this year's festival offered a total of eight open-air venues for music and four more for break-dancing. Casa Music 2008 brought some 400 performers together for 60 concerts, a break-dance competition, a special opening night performance and a closing-night fireworks show, Ammour told the press.

Many Casablanca residents turned out for concerts by Moroccan and foreign singers. Afifa and his girlfriend Nada, both in their early twenties, told Magharebia that the festival gave them an opportunity to forget their exam worries and have fun.

"We're here to see Myriam Faris who we really love, and we'd like to thank the organisers who invited this terrific Lebanese singer."

For her part, Myriam Faris told the press on Sunday (July 20th) that she was "thrilled to be singing in Casablanca for a public I respect and love very much." She then offered a surprise to her fans in the Maghreb, announcing that her upcoming album will include a song in Moroccan dialect.

Ahmed Bilal used the festival as an opportunity to get his family out for some air.

"I brought my kids with me," he said. "I wanted to see pop singers Daoudi and Stati and also the American group Earth, Wind and Fire. My children wanted to see Myriam Faris, Darga, and H-Kayne."

During a Friday press conference, Earth, Wind and Fire said their visit to Casablanca reminded them of their African roots, as well as "rhythms which blend perfectly with our style of music".

Among the high-profile singers in attendance this year were Rachida Talal, Hayat Idrissi, King Barra, Ganga Vibes, Abdelaziz Setati, Maalem Abdenbi, Barry, Mazagane, H-Kayne, Seun Kuti, Burning Spear, Cheb Ryan, and Jimmy Oihid, together with Five Star and Southside Johnny from the United States.

The closing night of the festival on Sunday featured a dazzling fireworks show by the coast, with hundreds of thousands of people of different ages and nationalities enjoying a spectacular show of lights, colours and rhythms of varying intensities and shapes.