The 18th edition of the Mawazine Festival promised to deliver a jam packed roster of jazz blues and rap. The 8-day festival will take place in the Imperial City of Rabat from June 21 to June 29, 2019 and is one of the most anticipated annual music events in Morocco.
Over 2.5 million attended the Mawazine Festival in 2018, which takes place over six venues.
The week-long musical celebration is said to be the largest one in Africa and the second largest in the world; Donauinselfest in Vienna is first. Mawazine draws in international artists and highlights local Moroccan musicians. The 2018 stage saw Martin Garrix, Bruno Mars, Luis Fonsi, and The Weeknd.
On June 19th, the opening night event will be hosted by the South African band Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness (BCUC), a 7 member band mixing sounds from their homeland with an experimental style of funk, hip hop, and rock influences.
Other performers of note will be Koko Collective who use string guitars, typewriters, and water bottles, and other household items to create a high energy performance; Sho Madjozo will bring Xitsonga and Swahili music global; Kery James will perform songs from “J’rap Encore ”. June 24th will showcase grammy-winning Angelique Kidjo, the legendary Mariam Doumbia. and global sensation Nneka. The remainder of the week will include French blues trio Delgres, Congolese rapper Youssoupha, American saxophonist Kamasia Washington, Togolese singer Peter Solo his group Vaudou Game; French rapper of Congolese origin Koba LaD. This year’s international performers include the Black Eyed Peas, Bigflo & Oli, David Guetta, Rosalía, J Balvin, Dadju, OrelSan, Karol G, and Maluma.
The Mawazine Festival is organized by King Mohammed VI’s Maroc Cultures and aims to raise awareness for Morocco’s different communities and musicians. Most concerts are free to the public and will take place on the Bouregreg stage, part of a 1.5 km strip with restaurants, cafes, docks, and wharves.