Cheb Khaled, Kylie Minogue kick off star-studded Mawazine festival

18/05/2009

Music fans from across the kingdom flocked to Rabat to enjoy the 2009 edition of the Mawazine festival. Performers include Warda, Kylie Minogue, Cheb Khaled and Stevie Wonder.

By Hassan Benmehdi for Magharebia in Rabat – 18/05/09

[Getty Images] Kylie Minogue performs at the opening night of Festival Mawazine 2009, May 15.

Mounia, Hamza, and Nacer came all the way from Casablanca to enjoy the festivities of the Eighth Mawazine festival. Standing outside the Qamra stage, where Cheb Khaled, the Algerian king of Raï performed on Saturday (May 16th), they echoed sentiments felt by many other young attendees.

"We couldn’t wait for Khaled and Kylie Minogue, the Australian Madonna," Mounia said.

People came in huge numbers from cities across the kingdom to attend the shows, particularly Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez and Tangiers.

Over the first three days, young Moroccans caught up with Kylie Minogue, Cheb Khaled, Warda Al Jazairia, former UB40 frontman Ali Campbell, and White Zulu’s Johnny Clegg. They paid between 100 and 500 dirhams for this chance to enjoy themselves and to get away from it all. With caps, water and supplies, they laid siege to Rabat.

The festival, entitled "Rhythms of the World", opened Friday on the splendid Bouregreg stage with a concert by musical genius Ennio Morricone, accompanied by a 90-member Moroccan choir. Then Australian pop star Kylie Minogue performed on the OLM Souissi stage.

Organisers said about 50,000 people attended Khaled's concert, 40,000 turned up for Minogue and more than 30,000 for Warda.

"It was like being in a dream for a few hours," said Amine, who came with friends Nadia and Yahia-- all students from Rabat. "I did all I could to make sure I see Kylie and Khaled. Long live Khaled.

In a press statement, Minogue described the Moroccan public, whom she met for the first time, as a "fantastic audience".

"It was a real honour for me to take part in this fantastic festival," she said.

The organisers say that they have pushed the envelope this year to offer something for every taste, and to give the Moroccan public a whole gamut of universal cultures, "all based around the single theme of tolerance."

"The spirit of the festival was to affirm the universal language of music, which preaches tolerance and dialogue between cultures above everything else," said the festival’s artistic director Aziz Daki.

More Arab and international music icons are scheduled to perform this year, including Samira Said, and Kazem Essaher.

Stevie Wonder is scheduled to perform the closing concert on May 23.

The festival awarded the renowned singer Warda Al Jazairia, the Wissam Royal, a prestigious award given by King Mohammed VI.

"I love this country," Al Jazairia said after the concert, "and I’m deeply touched by the royal gesture. It’s like getting a crown, which I shall wear for the rest of my life."