HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa Chairs Opening of 28th Fez Festival of World Sacred Music
Fez - Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa chaired, on Friday at the Bab Al Makina square, the opening ceremony of the 28th Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, held in Fez from May 16 to 24, under the High Patronage of HM King Mohammed VI under the theme: "Renaissances."
On her arrival at the historic Bab Al Makina Square, HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa reviewed a detachment of the Auxiliary Forces paying the honors, before being greeted by the Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid; United Arab Emirates’ Ambassador, Al Asri Saeed Aldhaheri; Ambassador Armando Barucco of Italy, the Festival’s guest of honor, Senegalese Ambassador, Seynabou Dial; Azerbaijani Ambassador, Nazim Samadov; Turkish Ambassador, Mustafa Ilker Kiliç; Omani Ambassador, Khalid Ben Salem Ben Ahmed Bamakhalif; as well as Spanish Ambassador Enrique Ojeda Vila.
Her Royal Highness was also greeted by the Wali of the Fez-Meknes region and Governor of Fez Prefecture, Mouad Jamai; President of the Fez-Meknes Regional Council, Abdelouahed El Ansari; President of the Fez Prefectural Council, Hassan Tazi Chellal; President of the Fez Municipal Council, Abdeslam El Bekkali; and President of the Mechouar-Fez Jdid Communal Council, Issam Filali Hamoz.
Her Royal Highness was further greeted by the President of the “Esprit de Fès” Foundation, Abderrafia Zouitene, along with its members, namely the CEO of Banque Centrale Populaire, Naziha Belkeziz and the Director General of Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion, Khalid Safir.
HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa then joined the official tribune, from where she followed the opening concert entitled “Renaissances: From Nature to the Sacred”. The performance featured a succession of fragments inspired by the beauty of the world, its diverse expressions, and the aesthetic of Africa that is colorful, baroque, and at times burlesque.
With exceptional narrative and choreographic staging, the show embodied the 2025 edition’s central theme, celebrating in sounds and visuals the notion of “Renaissance” as an impulse for cultural, spiritual, and artistic renewal, of which Morocco is a model.
Dozens of artists reflecting the festival’s diverse programming performed before the historic walls of Bab Al Makina, namely the women of Mayotte (Comoros Islands) preserving the Sufi “Deba” ritual, The Sufi ensemble “Areej” from the Sultanate of Oman and the Méhansio Company from Côte d’Ivoire.
Highlights also included the Mouride Kassaïdes from Senegal, the Master Drummers of Burundi, the Sama of Meknes mystical dance and the sacred Renaissance chant performed by mezzo-soprano and coloratura Battista Acquaviva.
At the end of the inaugural concert, HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa presented the “Young Talents-Esprit de Fez Prize,” organized in partnership with the “Esprit de Fès” Foundation, to laureates from the Conservatory of Music of the Kingdom’s spiritual capital. Piano, Qanun, Violin and Oud (lute) awards were presented respectively to Imane Berrada, Hiba Azzegar, Zakaria Almoubakir, and Saad Ghannami.
Her Royal Highness then posed for a commemorative photo with the artists.
The 28th Fez Festival of World Sacred Music pays tribute to Africa, a continent whose youth is committed to preserving and celebrating its millennia-old traditions and transmitting its heritage to future generations, thus contributing to its cultural renaissance.
