Visa For Music: Africa Middle-East Music Meeting Kicks Off in Rabat

After two years of interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Visa For Music’s 9th edition has returned with a vengeance, attracting 1,850 artists and 1 million attendees. The annual event held in Rabat features emerging and renowned artists from the African and Middle Eastern music scene.

Rabat- After two years of interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Visa For Music’s 9th edition has returned with a vengeance, attracting 1,850 artists and 1 million attendees. The annual event held in Rabat features emerging and renowned artists from the African and Middle Eastern music scene.

The festival will be held from November 16-19 across several locations in Rabat. In addition to music shows, it will include conferences, expositions and workshops.

The festival’s opening day took place at Mohammed V National Theatre on November 16. It featured diverse musical performance – a beguiling union of Congolese, French, Moroccan, and Dutch music defined by musical richness and diversity.

The Congolese singer and multi-instrumentalist Fanie Fayar performed several pieces. Fayar’s set was followed by the French-Moroccan Hip Hop band Demi Portion and then the Moroccan-Dutch band Farid Ghannam & the Cosmic Carnival.

Moroccan singer Farid Ghannam

Marwane Fachane, Executive Director of the Hiba Foundation, partners and co-organizers of the festival, spoke with Morocco World News about the festival’s mission.

“Visa For Music is Morocco’s first and largest professional market for the music industry in the MENA region and Africa, bringing together emerging artists from across the continent and the Middle East with professionals, festival owners, production houses, and labels,” Fachane explained.

He went on, “The idea is to bring them together to create platforms and give them the floor to create professional encounters.”

Fachane emphasized the festival’s diversity, with its showcases, concerts, workshops, and a trade fair for the music industry in the region.

Marwane Fachane Executive Director of the Hiba Foundation

Brahim El Mazned is the founding director of Visa For Music, “an essential meeting place” for music from Africa and the Middle East.

The festival’s main mission is to “showcase and promote the artistic musical creation of Africa and the Middle East to Europe and Northern markets, to encourage artistic mobility and to participate in the development of cultural industries in these regions.”

The Congolese singer and multi-instrumentalist Fanie Fayar