Five North African Music Festivals You Don’t Want to Miss This Summer
Check out music festivals this summer showcasing Moroccan Gnawa, Algerian raï, and electronic music from the region and beyond.
As we gear up for this year’s festival summer, North Africa’s stunning beaches and magical medinas offer a unique backdrop for a weekend of arts and culture. From Morocco to Egypt, music festivals invite you to dance to electronic, raï, Gnawa, and jazz music from the continent and the world.
If you’re planning to visit the region, we suggest you combine your trip with one of these festivals.
Gnaoua and World Music Festival (Essaouira, Morocco)
From June 27 to 29, 2024, the Gnaoua and World Music Festival returns for its twenty-fifth edition. Nestled into the charming city of Essaouira, the spiritual capital of Gnawa music, 400 international and local musicians will perform across twenty magical stages in the medina.
Gnawa, named after an ethnic group living in Morocco who was brought there as enslaved people from West Africa, is spiritual music that combines African, Arab Muslim, and Amazigh elements. It is often played at rituals called lilas, where people in need of physical or spiritual healing gather to witness and dance alongside dancing singers who spin their tasseled hats in circles. The ritual is held by the mâalem (Arabic for master) who sings lead on the ceremonial call-and-response chants.
“Over the years, we have set up workshops, training sessions and programs to support young musicians,” writesNeila Tazi, producer of the festival. “We have brought forward a new generation of mâalems, and notably women, who now thrive in a field once dominated exclusively by men.” In celebration of its twenty-fifth edition, the festival teamed up with Berklee College of Music to establish a training program for the next generation of Moroccan musicians.
The Gnaoua and World Music Festival is on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and brings together Morocco’s most respected mâalems, as well as international artists. This year’s lineup includes Saint Levaint, Aïta Mon Amour, and Buika.
Get your tickets here.
Sandbox (El Gouna, Egypt)
Sandbox is an annual electronic music festival that takes place by Egypt’s Red Sea in the picturesque resort town of El Gouna. This year marks Sandbox’s tenth anniversary, and the highly anticipated festival will celebrate with a special edition of diverse acts. DJs from Egypt and the world will take the various individually designed stages from May 16 to 18, 2024.
As Egypt’s leading gathering for electronic and underground music, Sandbox’s top-tier lineup draws crowds from across the region and beyond. This year’s lineup showcases local talent and regional scene leaders like Akladios, Aly B, Aly Goede, Aroussi, Gawdat, Gazbee B2B Talaia, Hermit B2B Joey, Hot Oasis, Husa & Zeyada (Live), Jess, Misty, Nova Retra and more.
If you’re considering Sandbox, take a listen to Hot Oasis’ set The Road to Sandbox to get you hyped ahead of time. Besides attending the festival, El Gouna is a great holiday spot for kitesurfing and is famous for its coral reefs, lagoons, and beautiful islands. You can book your passes here.
Raï d’Oran (Oran, Algeria)
In the Northwest of Algeria lies the historic port city of Oran, the birthplace of popular Algerian raï music and home to the annual festival Raï d’Oran. Every summer, musicians come together to celebrate this folk genre that appeared in the '20s, born from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, and Arabic sounds.
Like Gnawa, raï (translating to advice or opinion in Algerian Arabic) is honored as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. It combines regional instruments and rhythms with Western electronic elements and addresses social issues like class, hardship, or colonialism.
Singers of raï are called cheb/cheba (Arabic for young) as opposed to sheikh/sheikha (Arabic for old), the title claimed by traditional singers. Although raï was pioneered by the iconic Cheikha Rimitti, it initially established itself as a male-dominated genre before being shaped by many women singers from the ‘80s onwards.
Since then, raï has been considered to be a major world genre. Its birthplace, nicknamed “El Bahia” (Arabic for the radiant), impresses not only with this unique music genre, but also with wild Mediterranean beaches and a history of various cultural blends.
The Algerian Ministry of Culture usually announces the festival dates through its Facebook page.
Fabrika (Hammamet, Tunisia)
Stunning sunsets and trippy stage designs leave a visual imprint on anyone who has seen videos of the Tunisian festival FABRIKA. Organized by the collective of the same name, which formed in Paris as an electronic music and visual art collective in 2013, and has since evolved into one of the region’s biggest electronic music festivals, FABRIKA has earned the reputation of practicing inclusivity and providing safer spaces for partying.
Hosted in Hammamet, one of the country’s most popular Mediterranean holiday destinations, festival-goers are encouraged to immerse themselves in the town’s rich, multi-layered history.
The last edition was held in March, but there are whispers of a second festival happening in the summer of 2024, so stay tuned! In the meantime, the collective organizes several smaller parties and showcases, like their party at Basement Club in Tunis on April 12, showcasing DJ Raresh.
Mawazine Festival (Rabat, Morocco)
Morocco’s biggest music festival is returning from June 21 to 29, 2024, after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Established in 2001, Mawazine (Arabic for rhythms of the world) welcomed nearly three million festival goers in its last installment; it is ranked as the second major world music festival and the first major festival on the African continent.
The festival’s concerts are 90 percent open access, which makes it a perfect destination for tourists visiting the country. Featuring musicians from Morocco, the continent, and the world, Mawazine prides itself in its mission to promote tolerance, openness, and diverse artistic expression through combining tradition with modernity and preserving cultural heritage.
While the lineup has not yet been announced, Mawazine has welcomed the likes of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, and Rihanna in the past, and always gives exciting emerging artists a platform. Look out for this year’s lineup through their website where you can also purchase tickets if necessary.
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