The city of Essaouira has launched a new edition of the Gnaoua and World Music Festival, bringing together 43 Gnaoua masters from across Morocco alongside hundreds of artists and musicians from Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Arab world.
The opening of the festival transformed the city’s historic streets and squares into open-air performance spaces, where traditional Gnaoua processions blended with world music in front of large crowds.
Naïla Tazi, producer and founder of the Gnaoua and World Music Festival, said the current edition hosts 43 Gnaoua masters together with hundreds of international performers, noting that the festival has become a global platform for music and cultural exchange.
She added that the event goes beyond artistic performances by creating opportunities for dialogue between cultures, traditions and shared experiences, highlighting diversity as a source of creativity and mutual understanding.
According to Tazi, Essaouira reflects Morocco’s values of coexistence and openness, while young people continue to play a key role in preserving cultural identity and embracing global artistic exchanges.