Each may the sleepy and calm port town of Essaouira comes to life with the rhythms of the gnaoua music festival, this charming 18th century fortified fishing village swells in size as it plays host to the biggest summer festival in Morocco.
It celebrates the music of the Gnaouas promoting the ancestral music contribution, this fascinating music event has rapidly grown in popularity attracting now over 500k visitors from all over the world.
‘When the sun goes down the magic begins and you cannot resist to move to the rhythm’
In recent years the festival has been fused with many other music genres including jazz, blues, reggae, and hip-hop.
The Gnaoua People are descendants of slaves and mercenaries from sub-Saharan West Africa. Mostly from the old 16th century Mali Empire, they are known as healers, spiritualist and musicians with mixing of islamic, berber, Arab and African influences.
During the day, to recuperate, the beaches are well known as some of the best in the world for windsurfing and kitesurfing, you can also wondering around the streets of the medina a Unesco heritage site, Essaouira transport you to another time like it did with Bob Marley and Jimmy Hendrix where they founded inspiration in the 60’s and 70’s, the festival is known as the Woodstock of Morocco.
