Influences
Gnaoua Festival 2025: Vibes on the Beach Stage, Groove at Borj Bab Marrakech
From June 19 to 21, Essaouira will host the 26th edition of the Gnaoua Festival, blending Gnaoua heritage and bold fusions in a musical trance colored by the world.
Essaouira is preparing to become again, from June 19 to 21, 2025, the beating heart of a world where borders fade to the rhythm of guembris and qraqebs. The 26th edition of the Gnaoua and World Music Festival promises to make souls vibrate with a program that combines the heritage of the Gnaoua with the boldness of daring fusions. On the large beach stage and in the majestic setting of Borj Bab Marrakech, the Maâlems and artists from around the globe will weave a sound tapestry where trance meets commitment and memory dialogues with the future. Hold on tight, it’s going to groove.
The Beach, an Ocean of Sounds and Emotions
This year, the beach stage welcomes legends and rising stars. Mustapha Baqbou, undisputed master of the Gnaoua brotherhood, will share the stage with his disciple Najib Oubelkas for a dialogue between tradition and renewal. Mohamed Kouyou, globetrotter of trance, will come to distill his ritual rigor, tinged with bold openings.
The festival, faithful to its DNA, also highlights the new guard of Maâlems. Driss Semlali, Mehdi Kardoudi, Yassine El Bour and Redouan El Kasri, each with their baraka (understood as style, editor’s note), will embody this new generation that carries the Gnaoua flame while projecting it towards modern horizons.
But the beach would not be itself without its international breath. Tiken Jah Fakoly, monument of African reggae, will roar his hymns to justice and dignity, with the energy that makes him a universal voice. Alongside him, Fehd Benchemsi & The Lallas will reinvent Moroccan heritage by injecting gospel and pop, in a cocktail as fervent as it is playful. The Leila, an independent figure, will shake up the codes with her reggada tinged with rock and social poetry. And what to say about Ribab Fusion? Led by Foulane Bouhssine, this Gadiri group marries Amazigh music with funk, blues and pop accents, for a result that promises to make the dunes dance.
Borj Bab Marrakech, an Alchemy at Dusk
Perched on the ramparts of Essaouira, Borj Bab Marrakech is the other jewel of the festival. This historic bastion, bathed in the light of the setting sun, becomes an intimate setting where music takes on the airs of a ritual. Hassan Boussou, faithful among the faithful, will deploy his art of weaving bridges between cultures there. Abdelkader Amlil, demanding guardian of tradition, will make his deep voice resonate, anchored in the Gnaoua soul.
Borj will also host proposals that push boundaries. On Friday, DUOUD, an iconoclastic duo formed by Mehdi Haddab and Smadj, nicknamed “the terrible children of the oud,” will electrify the audience with an electro oud mixing North African, Mediterranean roots and urban pulsations. On Saturday, the Nishtiman Project will take the public on a journey through the Kurdish music of Iraq, Iran and Turkey, revealing a cross-border heritage of staggering richness.
A World Festival, Faithful to Its Soul
With 350 artists, including 40 Gnaoua Maâlems, coming from Morocco, Africa, Europe, North America, the Caribbean and Asia, this 26th edition lines up 54 concerts on emblematic stages: Moulay Hassan square, the beach, the Borj, but also Dar Souiri, Bayt Dakira, Zaouia Issaoua and Zaouia Sidna Blal. The alleys of the medina, for their part, will vibrate to the sound of street concerts, transforming Essaouira into an open-air party.
From June 19 to 21, 2025, Essaouira will be that rare place where one feels, in the same breath, the echo of ancestors and the pulse of the world. So, ready to dive into the trance?
