Mawazine

Mawazine logo

Maroon 5 at Mawazine 2015

Mawazine ( Arabic موازين, DMG mawāzīn , which means "rhythms") is an international music festival that takes place annually in Rabat ( Morocco ) with many international and local musicians. It is headed by Mounir Majidi, the personal secretary of the Moroccan King  Mohammed VI.  and founder and president of "Morocco Culture", the cultural foundation that organizes Mawazine and other events.

According to the organizers, Mawazine was visited by around 2.5 million people in 2018; This makes it the second largest festival in the world after the Danube Island Festival in Vienna . With around 90 acts on seven stages, it has the highest number of artists per stage in the world. Large parts of the festival are accessible free of charge.

Mawazine is one of several events designed to promote Morocco's image as a tolerant nation, and a post on the event's website explains that the aim of the festival is to promote Rabat as a city open to the world. However, it has sparked controversy and some Moroccan politicians have criticized the event for "promoting immoral behavior" and its alleged funding by Moroccan state-owned or private companies whose sole customer is the Moroccan state.

Artists like Future, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Shakira, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, Ricky Martin, Pharrell Williams, Wiz Khalifa, Pitbull, Kanye West, Scorpions, Avicii, David Guetta, Hardwell, The Chainsmokers, Maroon 5, The Jacksons, Chris Brown, Bruno Mars, Jason Derulo, Lenny Kravitz, The Weeknd, Kylie Minogue, Demi Lovato, Ellie Goulding, Sting, Elton John, Martin Garrix and others have performed at Mawazine.

history

The festival has experienced two eras. The first stretched from 2001 to 2007 when it was dedicated to world music . The event had some financial difficulties and had a hard time finding sponsors. In the second era, which began in 2008, Mounir Majidi, the personal secretary of the Moroccan king, took over the helm of the event. During this time the festival began to include more mainstream music in its program and has grown much stronger financially as many sponsorships have been taken over by large Moroccan companies. The press reported that the list of artists attending the event was from Mohammed VI. has been confirmed.

Funding controversies

The funding of the festival has often been the subject of criticism in Morocco. According to critics, the festival was funded by state-owned companies such as CDG,  OCP , ONCF and  Royal Air Maroc   , with money that they believe could have been better spent in sectors such as health / education / unemployment. In 2011, Mawazine's management stated that the festival's budget was around 62 million dirhams (equivalent to around 5.75 million euros), of which 27 million came from sponsors and 35 million from event revenues. They added that only 4 million dirhams will be provided by Rabat City Council.

JLEC (Jorf Lasfar Energy Company), a Moroccan subsidiary of Taqa , appeared as the main sponsor of the event on the festival's official website in 2010. In January 2011, Peter Barker-Homek, CEO of Taqa between 2006 and October 2009, stated in a letter to the  Securities Exchange Commission that he had been directed to pay $ 5 million / year to Hassan Bouhemou, CEO of SNI (the holding company controlled by the Moroccan royal family ), the sum was supposed to be used to finance the music festival. In the letter, Barker stated that he was not convinced of the usefulness of such a donation and inquired about it from chairman al-Suwaidi, who said that in return for payment, Taqa would receive the green light to expand his power plant in the country. JLEC has a 30-year contract with the most important Moroccan electricity distributor ONE and, according to its management, supplies up to 50% of the country's electricity needs.

Hassan Bouhemou denied being in any way involved in organizing or running the festival and Aziz Daki, director of the festival, stated that the amounts reported by Barker were incorrect. According to Telquel, JLEC donated 10 million dirhams to Mawazine, replacing the Emirati company Maabar as the main sponsor of the event in 2010.

Mass panic 2009

During the festival shortly after midnight on May 24, 2009, eleven people were killed and forty injured in a mass panic in the "Hay Nahda Stadium" . The incident happened when at the end of a free concert by Moroccan pop star Abdelaziz Stati, viewers tried to leave the event in a hurry. During this attempt, a wire fence collapsed and the lives of the 70,000 spectators were endangered. The concert had started at 11:00 pm, later than announced, which meant that the participants in our concerts, including one by Stevie Wonder, went to the stadium after their concerts were over.

Eight of the victims were seriously injured. Five of the dead were women, four men and two teenagers. They were all discovered after the panic ended and were found to have been killed by asphyxiation. Survivors had to be removed from the wreck by rescue workers. The dead were all of Moroccan origin. The next day there were seven people in the hospital.

Hassan Lamrani, the governor of Rabat, blamed concertgoers for the mass panic, saying that they "decided to go over the metal barriers to get a quick exit". 3,000 police officers were on duty during the event. Maroc Cultures issued a statement expressing "their great sadness" and offering "their deep and sincere condolences" to those affected by the tragedy. King Mohammed VI too. sent letters of condolence to the families of those affected, offering to pay for funeral services and hospital costs. The Moroccan Interior Ministry has announced that it will be investigating the incident.

2008

In 2008, Mawazine was visited by 1.2 million people and took place in nine locations in Rabat. Many artists from around the world took part in the festival, including  Whitney Houston , Juanes , Goran Bregovic , George Benson , Hoba Hoba Spirit, Tony Allen and  Issac Delgado .

2009

The 2009 festival, a nine-day event called "Rhythms of the World", was the eighth edition that started on May 15 and drew a million people to Rabat from cities like Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez and Tangier. Entry cost between 100 and 500 dirhams (10 to 50 euros). In 2009, 1700 artists performed.

The three opening days brought artists such as  Kylie Minogue , Alicia Keys , Stevie Wonder , K'naan ,  Warda Al-Jazairia  and  Johnny Clegg  to Rabat. 

The festival began with a concert by Ennio Marricone, accompanied by a Moroccan choir of ninety members, on the Bouregreg stage. A Kylie Minogue performance followed on the OLM Souissi stage. Khaled's concert was attended by 50,000 people, while Kylie Minogue and Warda recorded 40,000 and 30,000 attendances, respectively. Stevie Wonder closed the festival with a performance on May 23rd.

2010

The ninth edition of Mawazine took place from May 21 to May 29, 2010. Elton John and  BB King  performed on the OLM Souissi stage on May 26th and 27th respectively. Julio Iglesias performed on May 23rd. Sting closed the 10-day festival with a performance on May 29, 2010. Other artists included  Mika , Harry Connick Jr. , Thievery Corporation , Al Jarreau , Deolinda , Angélique Kidjo and  Carlos Santana .

In addition, many artists known in the Arab world also performed, such as Najwa Karam, Tamer Hosny , Elissa , Wael Jassar, Majida El Roumi , Myriam Fares , Rami Ayach.

The "Generation Mawazine" competition promotes the musical career of promising young talents. This artistic competition, which has been part of the festival's supporting program since 2006, aims to find the talents of tomorrow and offers them an important stepping stone into the music industry. This competition, which is open to all musical styles, features young talents and is judged in three predefined categories: rap / hip-hop, fusion / neopop and electronic music. This initiative gives unknown bands the opportunity to perform in front of an audience and the media in a professional environment. The winning groups start their careers in Morocco, produce an album and appear as established artists at the festival the following year.

2011

The tenth edition took place from May 20 to 28, 2011 in the OLM Souissi. The show opened on Friday with traditional and international artists. Well- known appearances by Kanye West and the Spaniard Ivica pica followed on June 21st and the English Pogirls group  Sugababes  on June 22nd. In the days that followed, greats like  Yusuf Islam , Quincy Jones , Joe Cocker  and  Lionel Richie performed  . The event was brightened up again when Shakira was a guest next to Swiss DJ and producer Yves Larock on the last day . Shakira's performance reached over 200,000 spectators.

2012

The eleventh edition took place from May 18 to May 26, 2012 in the OLM Souissi and on other stages in Rabat. The show opened with LMFAO on Friday during the Sorry For Party Rocking Tour. Other follow-up appearances were from Pitbull  (Planet Pit World Tour), Evanescence (Evanescence Tour), Scorpions (Get Your Sting and Blackout World Tour), Jimmy Cliff , Nigel Kennedy , Khaled , Gloria Gaynor (in the Mohammed V. Theater), Lenny Kravitz , who spent his birthday on stage and the historic appearance of Mariah Carey (exclusive concert).

2013

Mawazine took place from May 24th to June 1st.

International stars on the stage of OLM Souissi: Rihanna opened the festival as part of her Diamonds World Tour ; she made history by performing in front of one of the greatest crowds of all time in front of 150,000 people. This was a stalemate with Shakira's 2011 performance in terms of audience numbers. Other artists were  Jessie J (Nice to Meet You Tour), MIKA , The Jacksons (Unity Tour), David Guetta , Deep Purple (Now What? World Tour), Enrique Iglesias  (Enrique Iglesias India Tour) with the Moroccan-Swedish pop star Loreen , R&B singers Cee-Lo Green and Taio Cruz . 

Arab and oriental stars were among them: Walid Taoufic, Bouchra Khalid, Mohamed Mounir ,  Rabab , Cheb Mami , Zakaria Ghafouli, and  Ahlam .

2014

Mawazine was held from May 30th to June 7th this year. Many artists performed with Justin Timberlake at the opening (The 20/20 Experience World Tour) on May 30th, which marked his first appearance in Morocco, Jason Derulo as part of the Tattoos World Tour on May 31st, the French hip-hop -Group  IAM  on June 1st, Belgian house producer and singer Stromae promoting his new album Racine Carrée on June 2nd, Kool & the Gang on June 3rd and R&B artist Ne-Yo on June 4th. Robert Plant , the former lead singer of Led Zeppelin with his newly formed band The Sensational Space Shifters on June 5th, the Latino artist Ricky Martin on June 6th and the finale of this season was taken over by R&B diva Alicia Keys on June 7th. 

2015

This year the Mawazine Festival set new visitor records. 160,000 people attended the opening concert of American singer Jennifer Lopez , and 180,000 people attended the Pharrell Williams concert on May 30th. The Avicii concert drew over 200,000 festival-goers to the OLM Soussi stage in Rabat on Monday 1st June.

date	Stages
	OLM Souissi	Nahda	Bouragrag	Salé	La Renaissance	Chellah	Théatre Mohammed V
Friday May 29th	Jennifer Lopez	Khalid Hajar / Ghazi El Amir / Saad Sattar	Temenik Electric	Bawss & Soultana / Khawla El Moujahed / Khansa Batma / Oum
Saturday May 30th	Pharrell Williams	Assala	Yuri Buenaventura	Nidal Ibourk / Moataz Abou Zouz / Aziz Al Maghribi / Mohamed Adly / Orchester Ashjan Al Awetar		Srishti - Nina Rajarani / Dance Creations	Nihad Fathi / Orchester Hafni
Sunday May 31st	Sean Paul	Amal Maher	P-Square	Najat Al Houceimiya / Imghrane / Mustapha Oumguil		Débora Russ	Magida El Roumi
Monday June 1st	Avicii	Maher Zain	Daara J Family	Melimane / Ibham Band / Issam & Abidate Rma / Essiham	Malek	Carmen Souza	Flavia Coelho
Tuesday June 2nd	placebo	Elissa	Black M	Gnawa Stone / Gnawa Click / Lamaalam Mahmoud Guinea	Les Frères & Les Fils Akkaf	Maria Berasarte	Barbara Hendricks
Wednesday June 3rd	Akon	Melhem Zein	Yannick Noah	Babel / Rwapa Crew / Hassan Al Maghribi / Farid Ghannam / Mazagan & Hamid El Hadri	Haim Botbol	Lo Cor de la Plana	Mesut Kurtis
Thursday June 4th	Sting	Nabil Shuail	Les Ambassadeurs	Draganov / AZ Flow / Shayfeen / Chouft'Chouf / Fnaire		Luis De La Carrasca: Lo Essential
Friday 5th June	Usher	Dounia Batma / Ibtissam Tiskat / Fadwa Al Malki	Aziz Sahmaoui & Mamani Keita	Africa United / The Basement / Cheb Simo	Batoul Marouani	Katerina Fotinaki	Dorsaf Hamdani
Saturday June 6th	Maroon 5	Wael Kfoury	Metá metá	Daoudi / Tahour		Özlem özdil	Bajeddoub / Abderrahim Souiri / Orchester Debbi

2016

The 15th edition of Mawazine took place from May 20-28, 2016. The American singer Chris Brown and the Australian rapper  Iggy Azalea performed on the OLM Souissi stage on May 20 and 21, respectively. Pitbull  performed in front of 130,000 fans and Saad Lamjerrad performed in front of 140,000 people on the Nahda stage. The Dutch DJ Hardwell also performed in front of 180,000 spectators at the festival. The singer Christina Aguilera ended the festival with her performance on May 28th. 

date	Stages
	OLM Souissi	Nahda	Bouragrag	Salé	Chellah	Théatre Mohammed V
Friday 20th May	Chris Brown	Diana Haddad	Rokia Traoré	Hatim Idar, Mohammed Reda and Zinab Oussama		Kadhim Al-Sahir
Saturday May 21	Iggy Azalea	Melhem Barakat	Marcus Miller	DJ K-Rim, Rhany and Saïda Fikri	Alireza Ghorbani	Alma de Tango
Sunday May 22nd	Wyclef Jean	Myriam Fares	National Orchestra of Barbes	Ahouzar, Fatima Tachtoukt and Najat Tazi	Noëmie Waysfeld	Le Trio Joubran
Monday 23 May	Maître Gims	Hatem Al-Iraqi	Omar Sosa & Friends	Aminux, Sami Ray and Kader Japonais	The Musicians of Cairo	Natacha Atlas
Tuesday May 24th	Kendji Girac	Yara	Bombino	Hoba Hoba Spirit, Gabacho Maroc and Darga	Ines Bacán, Majid Bekkas and Pedro Soler	Qawwali Flamenco
Wednesday May 25th	Hardwell	Assi El Helani	Faiz Ali Faiz	Alamri, Hajib and Abdelaziz Stati	Antonio Castrignanò	Imany
Thursday May 26th	Shaggy	Sherine	The Afrobeat Experience	Muslim, H-Kayne, and H-name	Souffles Quartet	Paco Renteria
Friday May 27th	Pit bull	Saad Lamjarred	Ernest Ranglin & Friends	Douzi, Rachid Berriah and Rachid Casta	Kakushin Nishihara and Gaspar Claus	El Gusto
Saturday May 28th	Christina Aguilera	Saber Rebaï	Mokhtar Samba	Najat Aatabou , Bilal El Maghribi and Hamid El Mardi	Houria Aïchi	Safwan Bahlawan

2017

The 16th edition of Mawazine took place from May 12th to 20th, 2017. 

date	Stages
	OLM Souissi	Nahda	Bouragrag	Salé	Chellah	Théatre Mohammed V
Friday May 12th	Ellie Goulding	Sami Yusuf	Panache Culture	Fatima Zohra Laaroussi Tahour Latifa Raafat Mustapha Regragui's Orchestra Abderrahim Souiri		Charles Aznavour
Saturday May 13th	Wiz Khalifa	Majid al-Muhandis	Best before	Rabah Mariwri Fatima Tabaamrant Mustapha Oumghil	Vakia Stravrou	Badr Rami
Sunday May 14th	Chic with  Nile Rodgers	Nawal Al Zoghbi	Amadou & Mariam	Hamid Bouchnak Cheba Maria Cheb Squad		Eleftheria Arvanitaki
Monday 15th May	Ms. Lauryn Hill	Mohamed Al Salem Hussein El Deek	Bonga	Hamid El Kasri Mehdi Nassouli Mustapha Bakbou	Maqâm Roads	Anoushka Shankar
Tuesday May 16	Booba	Fares Karam	Ibibio Sound Machine	Hamid Serghini Zina Daoudia Five Stars	Trio Chicuelo & Marco Mezquida	Charles Aznavour
Wednesday 17th May	DJ Snake	Najwa Karam	Baloji	Batoul El Merouani Cherkani Orchestra Rachida Talal Saida Charaf	Agathe Iracema	Susana Baca
Thursday May 18th	Nick Jonas	Tamer Hosny	Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band	La Fouine Masta Flow Don Bigg	Stella Gonis	Lotfi Bouchnak
Friday 19th May	Demi Lovato	Asma Lamnawar Hatim Ammor	Calypso rose	Issam Kamal Ribab Fusion Farid Ghannam	Saodaj '	Rafael Amargo
Saturday 20th May	Rod Stewart	George Wassouf	Alpha Blondy	Mustapha Bourgogne Haj Abdelmoughit Abdellah Daoudi	Elida Almeida	Jahida Wehbe

2018

The 17th Mawazine Festival took place from June 22nd to 30th, 2018. The following artists performed:

date	Stages
	OLM Souissi	Nahda	Bouragrag	Salé	Chellah	Théatre Mohammed V	Arteries of Rabat (On the streets of Rabat)
Friday June 22nd	Martin Garrix	Kadim Al Sahir	Ebo Taylor	Cravata Reem Ihab Amir		Ara Malikian
Saturday June 23rd	French Montana	Saad Ramadan Marwan Khoury	Oumou Sangaré	Nadia Laaroussi Badr Soultan Ibtissam Tiskat	Alireza Ghorbani	Hiba Tawaji Musical direction - Oussama Rahbani	Timing Boys Batacuda "Farkat Oulad Al Ouaket" Groupe Soleil "Farkat Ashems"
Sunday June 24th	Jamiroquai	Melhem Zein Rouwaida Attieh	Las Maravillas Del Mali	Tarik Farih Maâlem Hassan Boussou Nass El Ghiwane	Patrizia Laquidara	Babylons	Timing Boys Batacuda "Farkat Oulad Al Ouaket" Groupe Soleil "Farkat Ashems"
Monday June 25th	Niska Damso	Bosy Hamaki	Tshegue Chronixx	Lahoucine Ait Baamrane Aziz Al Maghribi Zakaria Ghafouli	El Amir	Fernando Egozcue Ensamble	Timing Boys Batacuda "Farkat Oulad Al Ouaket" Groupe Soleil "Farkat Ashems"
Tuesday June 26th	The Chainsmokers	Ameer Dandan Wael Jassar	Riles	Khadija Atlas Mehdi Weld Hadjid Hajib	Trio Andaaz	London Community Gospel Choir	Timing Boys Batacuda "Farkat Oulad Al Ouaket" Groupe Soleil "Farkat Ashems"
Wednesday June 27th	Bruno Mars	Saber Rebai	Sidiki Diabaté	Abdelali Sahraoui Abidat Rma Najat Aâtabou	Maria Berasarte	Souad Massi	Groupe Gnawa Art Lux "Farkat Fania Gnawa Lux" Colokolo
Thursday June 28th	Texas	Aminux Nancy Ajram	Orchester Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou	DJ Hamida H-Kayne Muslim	Sepideh Raissadat	Majida El Roumi	Groupe Gnawa Art Lux "Farkat Fania Gnawa Lux" Colokolo
Friday June 29th	The Weeknd	Ahmed Chiba Douzi	Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 featuring Yasiin Bey	Imad Benomar Nouamane Belaiachi Tiiw Tiiw	Katerina Fotinaki & Eva Atmatzidou	Maria Toledo	Groupe Gnawa Art Lux "Farkat Fania Gnawa Lux" Colokolo
Saturday June 30th	Luis Fonsi	Ahlam	Tiken Jah Fakoly	Statia Said Senhaji Status	Sabry MOSBAH	Marwa Naji	Groupe Gnawa Art Lux "Farkat Fania Gnawa Lux" Colokolo

Web links

• Official website of the event  (English, French or Moroccan)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Nick Vivarelli: Justin Timberlake to Open Morocco's Mawazine Music Fest . In: Variety .
2. ↑ Mawazine 2018 more successful than ever. Retrieved November 26, 2018 . 
3. ^ The 10 biggest music festivals in the world , MTVIGGY. May 24, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2015. 
4. ^ Mawazine Festival. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 28, 2018 ; accessed on November 26, 2018 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Deadly stampede at Rabat festival , BBC News. May 24, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2009. 
6. ↑ Hassan Benmehdi: Calls mount for canceling Mawazine . In: Magharebia , April 14, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2013. 
7. ^ Naoufel Cherkaoui: Mawazine marks decennial amid controversy . In: Magahrebia , May 25, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2013. 
8. ↑ Aïcha Akalay: Mawazine. Un miracle royal . In: Telquel , May 22, 2010. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 19, 2013.  
9. ^ Les organisateurs de Mawazine: le festival n'est pas financé par l'argent du contribuable . In: Lakome , April 11, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2013. 
10. ↑ Aïcha Akalay: Mawazine. Un miracle royal . In: TelQuel , May 22, 2013. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 19, 2013.  
11. ↑ Peter Barker-Homek à la SEC . Retrieved November 19, 2013.
12. ↑ Affair. Comme un parfum de scandale . In: TelQuel , October 2, 2010. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 19, 2013.  
13. ↑ Saad Souleymane BOUHMADI: Jlec: La centrale qui produit 50% de l'électricité nationale . In: L'Economiste , August 11, 2008. Retrieved November 19, 2013. 
14. ↑ Diffamé, Hassan Bouhemou porte plainte . In: LNT , May 19, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2013. 
15. ↑ Youssef Ziraoui: Exclusif. Les secrets d'un festival royal . In: TelQuel , April 9, 2011. Archived from the original on August 7, 2013 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 19, 2013.  
16. ↑ 11 killed in Rabat stampede . Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation . May 25, 2009. Archived from the original on August 12, 2009. Retrieved on May 25, 2009.
17. ^ ^{A b} Eleven killed in Moroccan stampede . The Irish Times . May 25, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
18. ^ ^{A b} Stampede during Moroccan music festival kills 11 , CBC . May 25, 2009. 
19. ↑ ^{a b} 11 killed in Morocco festival stampede . RTÉ . May 24, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
20. ↑ ^{a b} 11 killed in stampede at Rabat world music festival . France 24 . May 25, 2009. Archived from the original on August 12, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 25, 2009. 
21. ↑ Jenny Booth: Stampede kills 11 people at world music festival in Morocco , The Times . May 25, 2009. 
22. ↑ Cheb Khaled, Kylie Minogue kick off star-studded Mawazine festival . Magharebia . May 18, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
23. ^ Festival Mawazine Rythmes du Monde - 14ème édition - from May 29 to June 6, 2015 . In: festivalmawazine.ma . Archived from the original on May 17, 2010.
24. ↑ MAWAZINE 2011 - FESTIVAL DE MUSIQUES ET RYTHMES DU MONDE, A RABAT CAPITALE DU MAROC - List of artistes . Festivalmawazine.ma. May 30, 2011. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 23, 2012. 
25. ↑ https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-06-04/moroccos-mawazine-festival-stirs-controversy
26. ^ Festival Mawazine Rythmes du Monde - 14ème édition - from May 29 to June 6, 2015 . In: festivalmawazine.ma . Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 21, 2012. 
27. ↑ http://www.mtv.com/news/2501201/rihanna-kicks-off-moroccos-mawazine-global-music-fest/
28. ↑ http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/06/159936/record-200000-people-attend-dj-avicii-concert-at-mawazine-festival/