Hommam Al Nassim 
The 19th edition of the Mawazine Rhythms of the World Festival kicked off in Morocco on Friday, amid a modest audience attendance, and witnessed concerts by stars such as Egyptian Angham and Lebanese Carole Samaha.
Angham performed her concert at the Nahda Theater accompanied by the band led by Maestro Hani Farhat, but the public attendance was less compared to previous editions of the Mawazine Festival, which is considered the largest musical festival in Morocco.
The festival was preceded by calls for a boycott on social media in solidarity with the residents of the Gaza Strip and the suffering of those affected by the Al Haouz earthquake in September.
Moroccan activists launched the hashtag “Do not dance on your brothers’ wounds,” and demanded that attention be focused on priorities instead of holding festivals.
The turnout was not large on Friday evening at the Souissi Theater, which is dedicated to international music, as well as the Salé Beach Theater, which is dedicated to Moroccan artists, while the attendance at the Mohammed V Theater, where the Lebanese Carole Samaha concert was held, was good.
One of the organizers told Reuters, requesting that his name not be published: “It is not possible to judge the success of the boycott or not on the first day of the festival. The data may change in the coming days.”
Despite this, the audience who attended Angham’s concert interacted with her enthusiastically, as she performed a group of her most famous songs, such as “I Fear Afrah,” “I Wish Him Well,” “I Wish You Understood Me,” and “My Many Names.”
On the Mohammed V stage, Carole Samaha serenaded her audience with her most famous songs, such as “I Love You, My Love” and “Listen to Me.” She also dedicated a special song to singles.
Samaha stressed, “Music is life, it is joy, and how much we as people need joy and happiness despite everything that is happening in the region. We are defying fear and death with this evening.”
The festival continues until June 29 with a program that includes a group of Arab and foreign artists, including the Lebanese Haifa Wehbe, the Egyptian Mohamed Ramadan, the Yemeni Balqis, the Moroccan Samira Said, the Australian Kylie Minogue, the American Camila Cabello, and the Scot Calvin Harris.
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