Festival of the Atlantic Andalusias
The Festival of the Atlantic Andalusias was held in Essaouira for the first time in 2003. It was such a huge success, that it has become an annual event that everyone looks forward to each year. It is a music festival that celebrates and promotes the influences that Andalusias has had on a variety of cultures such as Latin America, Spain and North America. Organizers of the Festival of the Atlantic Andalusias created the music festival with one main goal, to encourage peaceful co-existence and cultural exchange.
The town of Essaouira is located near the popular city of Marrakech and thousands of music enthusiasts gather to enjoy the vast variety of entertainment and music genres on exhibition at the festival. Many of the musicians performing at the festival are known to collaborate on some of their performances, combining their styles to create a unique experience. Festival goers can look forward to hearing everything from Mexican folk music and flamenco rock, to Arabic violin solos and even a few love songs. Some performances are purely instrumental, adding variety and diversity to the festival show program. Bands that have previously performed at the Festival of the Atlantic Andalusias include The Radio-Tarifa Band, Pedro Solar, Javier Ruibal, Touria Hadraoui, Ines Bacan, Majid Bekkas, Guason, Mohamed Ben Omar Ziani, Maurice El Mediouni, Samira Kadiri and Hayat Boukhriss.
Over and above the festival offering wonderful performances by an international line-up of artists, there are many other activities for festival goers to participate in. Some musicians or bands perform exhibits for fans to enjoy, art workshops explore a variety of topics, art exhibitions and fascinating seminars complete this wonderful festival of culture, fun and entertainment. There is definitely something for everyone at the festival and foreign visitors to Morocco should not miss out on this annual event, as the Festival of the Atlantic Andalusias offers them the opportunity to experience and discover a variety of cultures, through hip swinging rhythms and heart tugging ballads. The festival is a wonderful networking venue for musicians, the public and for the different cultures that come to the festival through one common denominator, namely music.
