Tonight in Essaouira, eyes are fixed on the six venues of the event: Moulay Hassan Square, Meditel stage, Dar Souiri, Zaouia Sidna Bilal, Borj de Bab Marrakech, Bab El Marsa, and Oulad Mogador Bab Doukkala stage. Yesterday at 8 pm, the kick-off of the event was given on Moulay Hassan Square with an original musical residency which, far from boiling down to a simple juxtaposition of styles, gave a foretaste of the promises of this edition. It is a true invitation to discovery, sharing, and encounter between very distinct musical universes. The 12 percussionists of the Emirati troupe Anahdi Al Bahri, served by the mâalem Mohamed Kouyou, harmoniously married the rhythms of the percussion of the Houwara troupe of Taroudant. Orchestrated by Karim Ziad, the seasoned drummer and artistic director of the festival, this beautiful tableau gives the public a desire for escapades, but also reminds them that this is the founding spirit of this event: openness, tolerance, the sense of celebration, and the marriage between all the musical genres of the world. But a few hours earlier, at Bab Doukkala, it was the "al Aâda" ritual that opened the ball. It is the opening procession which has the taste of a series of prayers for the great Gnaoua masters, pillars of the genre, deceased or ill. The mâalems from the four corners of the country went there to share this moment with their family members and the public. It is a concert of "qraqeb", drums, hajhouj, saxophones, pianos, keyboards, electric guitars, and a festival of colours... For four days, Essaouira is totally gripped by fever. With sounds as diverse as they are harmonious, the festival promises the public a mind-blowing and quite exceptional musical journey. And not flashy at all. In short, with a rich and diversified programming (concerts, residencies, conferences, meetings-debates, forum, tributes, lilas, and parades), the festival has already announced the colour of a successful sixteenth edition.

Like every year for 16 years, Essaouira hosts this Festival with such a particular atmosphere. A true fusion between the city, the Souiris, the visitors, and the artists. In reality, we all feel a little like artists during these four days, we let ourselves be carried away by what we have best in us: our receptivity, our openness to others, our humanity! And like every year, there will be highlights and highly anticipated fusions. A forum of debates on the theme of World Youth organised in partnership with the National Human Rights Council will give the floor to very diverse actors and personalities such as Karim Ghellab, Mohamed Tozy, or Lilian Thuram.

The forum imposed itself on us, over the years. It is a forum whose goal is to have a frank, open dialogue, without double-talk or particular aesthetics. A forum that confronts opinions and unites sensibilities as the festival has known how to do so well for 16 years. These cultural events favouring mixing and diversity are the ideal moment to create spaces for debate and put current themes at the heart of these exchanges.

The Festival has traced its path slowly but surely. The assessment is positive in all respects, on the cultural and heritage level, on the economic and social level, on the media level for the image of our country, our artists, and our young people. This Festival is the illustration of a collective success, of a tripartite partnership between a private promoter, public authorities, and civil society, a partnership that has known how to find its rhythm despite the difficulties that we have all been able to encounter throughout these years.