Africa will be in the spotlight during the 17th edition of the Gnaoua and World Music Festival, which will be held from 12 to 15 June in Essaouira under the High Patronage of H.M. King Mohammed VI, announced André Azoulay, advisor to H.M. the King and president of the Essaouira Mogador Association, on Wednesday evening in Casablanca. The choice of this theme will allow participants in this event, which reflects the authentic soul of Morocco and which is recognised for its originality and unique atmosphere, to revisit history through a rich and varied musical and artistic programme that Gnawi artists will present with so much beauty and emotion, added Azoulay, during a press conference organised for the presentation of the programme for this edition. "While demonstrating its solidarity with the countries of Africa, Morocco wants to reaffirm its historical African roots," he stressed, recalling the visit recently made by the Sovereign to several African countries to reaffirm his African roots and the Kingdom's attachment to its continent and to South-South cooperation in several fields not only economic but also cultural. It is a Festival recognised for its originality and unique atmosphere, which values the African part of Moroccan identity and which illustrates the attachment to all the cultures of the world, said the president of the Essaouira Mogador association. On the highly anticipated section of this 17th edition, the Festival Forum, created two years ago in partnership with the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), returns this year for a third edition with the theme "Africa to come". For the president of the CNDH, Driss El Yazami, the Forum, scheduled for 13 and 14 June, will be an opportunity to address several subjects, notably the city of Essaouira, which has been inserted for centuries into the history of Africa and has reconnected, for twenty years, with the continent and its cultures thanks to the Gnaoua and World Music Festival: a music and a spiritual tradition that testify to this shared memory. And to add that the Forum looks at subjects linked to human rights, especially since Morocco is initiating an ambitious immigration policy and is reconnecting on the political and economic levels with sub-Saharan Africa. Gathering, as usual, researchers and social actors, specialists and simple festival-goers, the forum aims to "revisit this history over the long term, while analysing what makes Africa today, its constraints and its assets, its place in the world today, its regional dynamics and what could be the dream, the ambition of Africa to come," he said. The anthology of Gnaoui music, a meticulous labour of several years, produced by the Yerma Gnaoua Association and dedicated to this ancestral art aiming at the valorisation of its rhythmic, melodic, lyrical and stylistic richness, will be broadcast during this festival which will welcome exceptional artists," stressed for her part Neia Tazi, producer and organiser of the festival who notes that the greatest Gnaoua maalmines of Morocco will fuse with musicians as talented as Marcus Miller, Bassékou Kouyaté, Ibrahim Maalouf or even Didier Lockwood. For this edition, the mâalem Abdelslam Alikane (co-artistic director who is part of the festival's founding team) had the idea of turning to musicians who were not from the "soil" of the Gnaoua brotherhoods, but who nevertheless gave their hearts to tagnawite. It is both a reflection on belonging to an identity, the living transmission of an oral heritage and its evolutions and an initiative in the spirit of openness and generosity of the Gnaouas who welcome the stranger with kindness. This edition will also see the participation of the Hmadchas brotherhood, the Issaouas, the artist Foulane Bouhssin, the "Derdba" group as well as the "Kif Samba" group, among others. Always inspired by the land of Africa and embracing jazz and world music, the programming of the 17th edition will once again be bold, with nearly 30 concerts. For this 17th edition, alongside 20 of the greatest Gnaoua masters from different Moroccan cities, the stages of Essaouira will welcome the Malian griot Bassékou Kouyaté, the bassist and jazzman who needs no introduction Marcus Miller, the immense trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, the new reggae star the Senegalese Meta & the Cornerstones, and the soul/folk from the diasporas with the sumptuous Ayo. All these shows will take place on open-air stages, throughout the city of Essaouira, notably at Place Moulay el Hassan and Bab Marrakech.