A tribute was paid to one of the tenors of contemporary Moroccan song, namely Mahmoud Al Idrissi, who reminded the audience, which had come in large numbers to attend the opening evening, of the golden age. These included tracks from his great repertoire "Saâa Saïda", "Mouhal Yensak el bal", "Ya laylou toul", without forgetting the famous song "Wach Nzidou mazal l’hal". This evening also saw the participation of the young artist, Naoual El Oufa, winner of the show "Noujoum Wa Noujoum", through the tracks she sang: "Waqtach treni ya gelbi", "Ya bent l’mdina" and the famous song "Atchana" by the diva of Moroccan song during the sixties, Bahija Idriss. This hit was recently reproduced by Abdelali Anouar, who will reinterpret it during the closing evening which will take place next Sunday. As it is customary to save the best for last, Oulad El Bouazaoui were present at the end of the show and enchanted the spectators with classics of the aita merssaoui. The activities of this festival will continue until next Sunday with a series of activities on the programme, including conferences-debates, plays, musical evenings and sports and entertainment activities dedicated to the people of Casablanca. This evening was an opportunity for meetings between several celebrities from the artistic world, among others, Haj Younès, the composer Abdelati Amanna, the actor Mohammed Miftah as well as the famous presenter Atiq Benchiger, who highlighted the value of this event which coincided with the spring season. And that the city of Casablanca really needs this kind of activity. "There are not only factories in Casablanca. This city has its own culture," he specified, adding that Casablanca needs international festivals organised by professionals. Regarding the Sidi Belyout Spring, he stressed that "it is a breath of fresh air that we welcome, but we aspire to better".
The festivities will continue this Tuesday with the presentation of the play "L’aita jat". The next day, it will be poetry, specifically sung poetry and dialectal poetry (zajal). On Thursday, folklore will delight festival-goers with a programme featuring the ahwache, gnawa, issawa and aabidat errema troupes, which will undoubtedly captivate the interest of the Casablanca public. Sport will not be left out with the kick-off, on Friday, of a mini-football tournament opposing the teams of the Sidi Belyout and Maârif districts and that of the City Council. In the evening, a programme with a spiritual connotation will see the participation of the Boutchichia brotherhood, and that of the samaa and madih, among others. Fans of aita will be spoilt with the Zliga troupe, the aita hasbawia and the Jamal Zerhouni orchestra from Safi, the aita hawzia of Abidate Rema from Marrakech directed by Hassan Deryouki, and this on Saturday the 28th.
On Sunday, we will attend a football tournament and an afternoon of tbourida.
To close this festival, nothing better than a musical evening with the participation of several singers, notably Abdelali Anouar, Nadia Moukhtar and the famous Tagada troupe.
Moroccan music in the spotlight at the Sidi Belyout Spring: A celebration of art and culture
This event was an opportunity to ask good questions about the cultural situation in the metropolis. On this subject, we contacted the president of the Anfa district, Kamal Daissaoui, who told us:
"In a city like Casablanca, an economic metropolis, the City Council, the districts and the Ministry of Culture must act so that cultural activities are not seasonal but spread throughout the year. It is with this in mind that the Sidi Belyout district is involved, despite the lack of material resources, since it only benefits from a modest subsidy from the City Council. However, it organises two festivals every year: "The Sidi Belyout Spring" and "Ramadaniates Sidi Belyout". The concept of the Sidi Belyout Spring is based on the observation that Casablanca is the city of all Moroccans, because it welcomes people from all regions of Morocco".
"The first edition of this festival was dedicated to Sahrawi (Hassani) culture, the second to Amazigh culture and this edition is devoted to popular culture, and aita takes its full place in this event, in addition to theatre, popular music as well as activities offered to children. It is an opportunity to pay tribute to leading figures who have given a lot to our country".
"It is the 50th year of the start of the pictorial activity of Falaki Bouchaib, a native of the old Medina, a painter of international stature, as well as two members of the famous Bouchaib Albidaoui troupe, a troupe that enchanted Moroccans for a long time. We also welcome the sons of the old Medina, Ba Azizi and Leghrissi, whom we have chosen to pay tribute to men of the theatre, in addition to Casablanca athletes. We hope that after this third edition, the Sidi Belyout Spring will be anchored in the cultural landscape of Casablanca, like the Ramadaniat of Sidi Belyout. The Sidi Belyout council will continue to work to establish a real cultural policy at the level of Casablanca. This is the only way to immunise the Moroccan citizen against all kinds of excesses. A citizen proud of their culture will certainly be a citizen working for the good of their country".
