Rabat – Saturday, June 29, marked the final day of the 18th annual Mawazine festival. Maroc Cultures, the organizers of the festival, announced that this year was the most successful one yet – with a whopping 2,750,000 concert-goers coming to see the 200 artists who performed across the festival’s 6 stages.
“This record attendance confirms the exceptional popularity of Mawazine and the international appeal of the festival,” Maroc Culture said in a statement.
The all-time-high attendance also bumped Mawazine up from the second largest festival in the world to number 1 largest, according to reference site Statista, one of the world’s leading data providers.
“This new record also highlights the relevance of the Mawazine model and the unique place occupied by the festival today: open to all, free, unifying and carrying values,” Maroc Cultures added.
The artists who drew record-breaking attendance
The festival ran from for nine days, from June 21 to June 29, and saw performances from some of the world’s biggest artists in an array of genres.
The OLM stage was home to performances from some of the biggest names in hip-hop, such as Future, Migos, and Travis Scott, as well as reggaeton stars such as Maluma and Karol G.
The two aforementioned stars saw the biggest turnout of the whole festival, with 200,000 people coming to sing along to their Latin hits. The immense crowd brought Maluma to tears, as he expressed his love for Morocco while wearing an Atlas Lions jersey and wrapping himself in the Moroccan flag.
The other stages were also home to big performances and enthusiastic crowds, with disco group Sister Sledge performing their hit “We Are Family” at the Mohammed V National Theater. Maroc Cultures dubbed the song “the anthem of the 18th edition.”
Hugely popular Lebanese group Mashrou Leila, known for defying stereotypes through their music and challenging conceptions of identity and gender, also performed at Mohammed V National Theater. Unsurprisingly, the show was completely sold out.
In Salé, Moroccan artists Manal, Hamid El Kasri, Fnair, Abdellah Daoudi, Zina Daoudia, and Mustapha Bourgogne treated the eager audience to “unforgettable moments.”
The Nahda stage saw performances from “the biggest names in oriental music,” such as Carole Samaha, Myriam Fares, Elissa, Najwa Karam, and Walid Toufic. Emirati singer Hussain Al Jassmi closed the festival with a high energy 2-hour performance.
The Bourgreg was home to performances from all over the world with Mawazine’s Rhythms of the World Stage. Carribean group, Delgres, brought the smooth flow of blues as well as the hypnotic energy of rock and soul music, and all female group Les Amazones d’Afrique treated the crowd to a West African vibe with feminist undertones.
19-year-old French rapper of Congolese origin Koba LaD closed the festival at the Bourgreg stage. He also chose to wear the Atlas Lion’s jersey as a tribute to Morocco.
Maroc Culture finished its statement by not only thanking its partners this year, Spotify and Facebook, the artists who came all the way to Morocco from across the globe, but “the public and festival-goers for their presence and the loyalty they have shown throughout the years.”
Read also: Morocco’s Mawazine Festival: A Celebration of Openness and Respect
