Moroccan desert music festival highlights African cultural traditions

2008-05-15

The latest Desert Music Festival in Morocco celebrated the Sahraoui landscape and inter-cultural dialogue.

By Hassan Benmehdi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 15/05/08

[Hassan Benmehdi] The fifth annual Desert Music Festival held May 9-11th in Errachidia gathered international performers, including Angolan ballet troupe Kilandukilu, which combines tradition and modernity.

The fifth annual Desert Music Festival held May 9-11th in the Errachidia region of south-eastern Morocco attracted an international audience and notable performers. Organisers say the annual event works to preserve authentic values, showcase and safeguard African cultural heritage and highlight the magnificent scenery of the Moroccan desert.

"[The festival] brings together tradition and modernity and promotes the tourist potential" of the Sahara, said organising committee member Hassan Bahtati, adding that his year’s desert concert series "drew a sizeable audience from Morocco, Africa, Europe". After five years’ experience, he said, the festival of desert music is beginning to take on an international dimension.

Performers included well-known Moroccan and foreign artists such as Jolf Art (Senegal), Arion (Greece) and others from Algeria, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Chile and Mali.

At the festival’s opening celebrations, the great Chilean guitarist Marcelo de la Puebla said, "It’s an honour for me to take part in a festival which preaches peace and dialogue between cultures."

A good-natured spirit prevailed during the three days of performances. The young audience who turned out in great numbers to attend the various concerts appreciated the quality of the artists and musicians.

"Festivals such as this enable us to be entertained and promote our cultural and artistic heritage to peoples from all around the world," said Lahcen, a young man in his twenties who had come from Arfoud to attend the festival.

His friend Abdellah remarked that young people suffering from unemployment and isolation in the region were excited about the event because it gave them work opportunities, "even if only for a few days".

The festival came at just the right time and provided a welcome respite, agreed Mohamed, a family man from Rissani.

"This is an opportunity for families from the region, who have nowhere else to take their children for a good time, to have a break from their routine," he told Magharebia.

In previous years, the shows were staged as open-air spectacles on the oases of Merzouga, Ksar El Fida, Rissani and Erfoud. For the fifth edition, however, concerts were also held in the cities of Errachidia, Rissani and Meknès to allow a greater number of attendees to see the outstanding performances.

The highlight of the closing night on Sunday (May 11th) was without question when great Moroccan lutenist Haj Younès accompanied the radiant singer Said Charaf.

"I think festivals like this are to be encouraged because they can be a bridging point between different cultures," Younes said.

There was also a captivating performance by traditional ballet troupe Kilandukilu, showcasing how Angolan choreography combines tradition and modernity. Another crowd-pleaser came from "Jazz Moments in a Classic Mood", an Italian group led by composer Mino Laciringola.

Hassan Aourid, Wali of the Meknès-Tafilalet region, told Magharebia that the festival of desert music gains in maturity each year and is becoming an event not to be missed.

"It combines both the magic of the spectacle and the promotion of tourism in Tafilalet, which has inestimable assets," he said.