From the opening evening, the programme served a tasty menu to the taste of all audiences: the sumptuous Rihanna made the OLM Souissi tremble, Walid Toufic worthily represented the oriental repertoire on the Nahda stage, the Tambours de Brazza made the Bouregreg sail, whose North bank welcomed, with nostalgia, the Moroccan group Siham, with Ghiwan Salwan and Jil Ghiwan Jalal in the opening act. The various stages were taken over by tens of thousands of spectators, who communed with their idols; all in all, one of the objectives of Mawazine, which has become synonymous with escape and lyrical travel for festival-goers, while making the capital an immense open-air stage where street shows and parades create a joyful carnival of sounds and colours. Like the previous editions, Mawazine-2013 will host, over eight days, mega-stars of world music, the most beautiful Arab voices, and national stars to whom the programme gives particular attention, in order to contribute to the influence of Moroccan music, the emergence of Moroccan artists, and the animation of the national artistic scene. Gaining popularity year after year, Mawazine, which also constitutes a boon for economic activity in the capital, seems well on its way to setting a new audience record, after the 2,380,000 festival-goers and 30 million viewers in 2012. This is a major challenge for the organisers who have limitless ambition for the flagship event of the national artistic scene. Since its creation in 2002, the Mawazine-Rhythms of the World Festival has constantly promoted cultural diversity through a programme that is both Moroccan and international, encouraged creation and sharing through innovative artistic meetings, and fostered the discovery of new talents. Mawazine is organised by the Maroc Cultures Association, which was born on 23 October 2001 in Rabat and whose main mission is to guarantee the public of the region a cultural and artistic animation of a professional level worthy of the capital of the Kingdom. Echoing the fundamental values of the development policy led by HM King Mohammed VI, Maroc Cultures concretises this noble mission via the Mawazine-Rhythms of the World Festival and various events, such as the Génération Mawazine competition, multidisciplinary colloquia, plastic art exhibitions, and concerts.