🇲🇦MoroccoNorth Africa
Gnaoua Festival opens its 27th edition with fervor and fusion in Essaouira
via Le Matin4 min read
The 27th Gnaoua Festival commenced on Thursday at 6 PM in Essaouira, transforming the city's streets into a vibrant human river filled with traditional music and chants. The inaugural parade featured various Moroccan musical brotherhoods, including Gnaoua Maâlems, Aïssawa, Hamadcha, and Jilala, processing through the medina to the main stage. The event drew diverse attendees from Morocco, Europe, America, and Africa, all united in celebrating music and Essaouira's traditions. The opening night continued with a musical fusion performance directed by French flutist and composer Sylvain Barou, featuring Moroccan Mehdi Nassouli, Rwandan troupe iBuhoro, Indian singer Ganavya, and Sara Moullablad. This original creation was prepared in just three days. The evening also showcased performances by anticipated Maâlems, including Mohamed Kouyou from Marrakech, who engaged the audience with traditional Gnaoua repertoire. Later, Casablanca-based band Hoba Hoba Spirit took the stage, delivering a performance that blended rock, reggae, chaâbi, Gnaoua rhythms, and popular influences. Their set, featuring songs like "Gnawa Blues" and "Sidi Bouzekri," resonated with the crowd, highlighting the band's widespread popularity and ability to unite diverse audiences. The festival, which runs until June 27, will also feature the Palestinian collective 47Soul, a collaboration between Richard Bona and Asma Lamnawar, a tribute to Maâlem Mustapha Baqbou, and a performance by Maâlem Hamid El Kasri.
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by Le Matin.
A heatwave affecting much of Europe is being fueled by very hot Saharan air masses passing through southeastern Morocco. These air masses are trapped by a "heat dome," a powerful high-pressure system that maintains high temperatures across the Mediterranean basin.
The 27th Gnaoua and World Music Festival commenced on Thursday, June 25, with an opening night that transformed Essaouira into a vast open-air stage. The event featured a grand popular parade, a unique musical creation bringing together artists from Morocco, Rwanda, India, and Europe, followed by performances from emblematic Maâlems and the group Hoba Hoba Spirit. Essaouira reconnected with the festival's core identity: the convergence of cultures driven by the Gnaoui heritage.
SimSim-Participation citoyenne, a civil society organization, is advocating for responsible artificial intelligence governance in Morocco and greater involvement of civil society in digital public policy development. A national survey conducted by the association across various regions of Morocco highlights the need for an integrated legal and institutional framework to guide AI development, ensuring safe, responsible, and rights-compliant usage. The organization emphasizes that regulation is crucial for building trust, organizing AI applications, clarifying responsibilities, and preventing adverse effects from rapid, unregulated adoption. The report, titled "Artificial Intelligence and Civil Society in Morocco: Towards Responsible Governance and a Regulatory Framework that Takes into Account the Needs of Civil Actors," underscores that AI offers significant opportunities for innovation and service improvement but also presents legal and ethical challenges requiring structured public responses. SimSim-Participation citoyenne argues that civil society should not merely be recipients of digital policies but actively participate in their creation, especially concerning rights, access to information, citizen participation, and institutional trust. The association's advocacy is based on a national survey that identified civil society organizations' perceptions of AI, its opportunities, and the legal, ethical, and organizational challenges they anticipate. The survey also revealed