add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Mawazine (Rhythms)[1] is a festival of world music which takes place in Rabat, Morocco, featuring Arab and international music icons. There have been eight Mawazines, with the latest in 2009 ending in a deadly and suffocating stampede (see 2009 Rabat stampede) in the early hours of 24 May. Mawazine is one of several events which are intended to promote an image of Morocco as a tolerant nation, with a post on the event's website declaring that the festival intends to promote and "support Rabat, as a city open to the world".[2][3] However, it is controversial as some of the country's Muslim politicians have criticised the event for also "encouraging immoral behaviour".[2][4] Artists such as Stevie Wonder, Kylie Minogue and Alicia Keys have performed at Mawazine. Mawazine is organised by Maroc Cultures.[3]
[edit] 2001Mawazine began in 2001.[3][1][5] [edit] 2008Mawazine was attended by 1.2 million people and located in nine venues across Rabat.[3][1] The festival featured many artists from all around the globe, including Whitney Houston, Juanes, Goran Bregovic, George Benson, Hoba Hoba Spirit, Tony Allen and Issac Delgado. [edit] 2009The 2009 festival, a nine-day event entitled "Rhythms of the World",[6][2] was the eighth edition and began on 15 May,[6] attracting crowds of one million people from cities such as Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez and Tangiers to Rabat.[7][6] Admission cost between 100 and 500 dirhams.[6] 1700 performers performed in 2009.[5] The opening three days featured acts such as Kylie Minogue, Stevie Wonder, K'naan, Hoba Hoba Spirit, Cheb Khaled, Warda Al-Jazairia, Ali Campbell (formerly of UB40), and Johnny Clegg of White Zulu.[6] Other musical acts to feature include Mali's Amadou & Mariam,[7] Cuban musician Eliades Ochoa,[8] The Joubran Trio, three brothers from Palestine,[9] and Iranian ensemble Eshtiaq.[10] The festival opened with a concert by Ennio Morricone, accompanied by a Moroccan choir with ninety members, on the Bouregreg stage.[6] This was followed by a Kylie Minogue performance on the OLM Souissi stage.[6] Khaled's concert was attended by 50,000 people, whilst 40,000 and 30,000 attendance figures were registered for Kylie Minogue and Warda respectively.[6] Stevie Wonder closed the festival on 23 May.[6] Warda Al Jazairia was granted the Wissam Royal.[6][7] [edit] StampedeMain article: 2009 Rabat stampede Eleven people were killed and forty were injured in a stampede at the Hay Nahda soccer stadium during the festival shortly after midnight on 24 May 2009.[2] The incident occurred when spectators attempted to leave in a hurry near the end of a free[3] concert by Moroccan pop star Abdelaziz Stati.[11] A wire fence collapsed during this attempt, endangering the lives of the 70,000 spectators.[11][2][4][12][5] The concert had begun at 23:00, later than billed, and this caused people attending other concerts, including one by Stevie Wonder, to go to the stadium when their concerts were finished.[3] The event had previously been moved from a smaller venue to meet a demanding crowd.[3] Most of the injured were young.[3][1] Eight of the victims were seriously injured.[11] Five of the dead were women, four were men and two were teenagers.[11][12] They were all discovered after the stampede had completed and found to have been crushed by suffocation.[3][1][12][5] Survivors had to be pulled from the wreckage by rescuers.[2] The dead were all Moroccan.[1] Seven were still in hospital the following day.[12] Hassan Lamrani, the Governor of Rabat, blamed concert-goers for the stampede, saying that they had "decided to go over the metal barriers to have a quick exit".[2] However, one injured concert-goer questioned why police had shut the doors and had not intervened when the incident had become serious.[2] There were 3,000 police on duty at the event.[3] Maroc Cultures issued a statement to express "its great sorrow", extending "its profound and sincere condolences" to those affected by the tragedy.[3] King Mohammed VI also sent the families of those affected messages of condolence and offered to pay for funeral services and hospital costs.[3] Morocco's interior ministry has announced it will investigate the incident.[3] [edit] References
[edit] External links
| |||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
