After two years of absence due to the pandemic, and since the current conditions still do not allow the organization of the 23rd edition, the Gnaoua festival, faithful to its unique spirit, reinvents itself once again and becomes the Gnaoua Festival Tour .
This musical caravan will crisscross Morocco throughout the month of June to meet its loyal audience in Essaouira, Marrakech, Casablanca and Rabat. And each city has its own concerts: 12 concerts in Essaouira, 9 in Casablanca, 5 in Rabat and 5 in Marrakech.
The Gnaoua caravan
Four (4) stopovers for this musical caravan in the colors of the Festival: the purest tagnaouite and ever more daring fusions. Because the key word of the Gnaoua Festival Tour is fusion.
Fusion first with the public
The Gnaoua Festival Tour has been designed to go as close as possible to aficionados. And since the festival is recognized as a trans-generational phenomenon, the concerts and venues have been designed to meet the expectations of everyone, young and old: open-air spaces, performance halls, friendly places to allow the more people to rediscover the magic of the Festival.
This tour will be held according to the gauges that will be authorized and the public reception conditions in force. Because it is essential to maintain the link between the festival and its public and to continue to carry a message of hope and relentlessly consolidate the social link.
In Essaouira, place El Menzeh and in Dar Souiri on June 3 and 4. In Marrakech, at the Megarama and at the Center Les Etoiles of Jamaa El Fna on June 9 and 10. In Casablanca, at the Stade Mohammed V and at Uzine on June 16, 17 and 19. And finally in Rabat, at the Mohammed V National Theater and at La Renaissance on June 23 and 24.
Rainbow Music Fusion
A hallmark of the festival, fusion is making a strong comeback during the Gnaoua Festival Tour. Of the 30 concerts scheduled, half will be made up of new, daring, singular fusions… the fruit of the work of the artistic direction, passionately involved in its desire to always create bridges through music.
On the menu: jazz, blues, African music, folk, funk, art of the griots, Cuban music, Afro blues… invited to merge with the masters of ceremonies that are the Gnaoua maâlems.
More than 100 artists will display their talents in all forms. On the program, warm and powerful voices and a rich palette of instruments: kora, balafon, flute, accordion, saxophone, ribab, guitar, percussion, keyboard, drums… a real musical rainbow!
Fusion of the present and the universal
The Gnaoua Festival Tour was designed to allow the public to rediscover these enchanting musicians, the Gnaoua maâlems, after two years of absence. This is why the Gnaoua Festival Tour balances fusion and tradition. Nearly 13 concerts of traditional Gnaoua music are scheduled, inviting the biggest names in Tagnaouite from each region and emerging Gnaoua maâlems to help us rediscover this precious heritage.
Because today, the Gnaoua culture is strong, valiant, present and flourishing. The Gnaoua Festival Tour will be an opportunity to celebrate with the public the universality of their art and its inscription on the UNESCO list of cultural and intangible heritage of humanity in December 2019 in Bogota.
Proof that the enhancement of an ancestral culture contributes to the promotion of the values of openness and tolerance. The Gnaoua create bridges, bring us to this crossroads where the present merges with the universal.
Fusion finally between commitment and resilience
Since 1998, the Gnaoua and World Music Festival has been working to promote Gnaoua art, which conveys the values of tolerance and openness. Resilient, he has worked for more than 20 years to raise awareness of the essential place of culture in the development of our country.
The Gnaoua Festival Tour is the result of this commitment, of this deep conviction of the necessary action to be taken in favor of the inclusion of artists and all professionals of the creative and cultural industries, and of the need for their development for a real and solid sustainable development of our societies.
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