Fes Festival of World Sacred Music: A Grand Gathering of Artisans
The 29th edition of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music is set to commence on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at the Bab Makina venue. This year’s opening performance, titled "Emergence of the Spirit from Matter – From Heaven to Earth," presents a poetic and choreographic tribute to the sacred touch of traditional craftsmanship. According to a statement from the Spirit of Fes Foundation, the festival’s theme this year—“Fes and the Artisans, Guardians of Craft and Heritage”—will celebrate the creative expressions of artisans whose hands forge the essence of the world.
This artistic endeavor embarks on an exploratory journey illuminated by the light of coppersmiths' lamps, evolving into an epic that honors the secret workshop where the four fundamental elements of the universe—water, earth, air, and fire—are skillfully transformed by the tools of craftsmanship, including furnaces, bellows, chisels, and pottery wheels.
The performance pays homage to the creative hands of artisans such as tanners, dyers, weavers, cobblers, tile makers, carpenters, and coppersmiths, evoking the aura that protects each artisan's guild and their spiritual master. Following the threads woven by artisans in the narrow alleys of the ancient city, the performance takes audiences back in time to the discovery of silk five thousand years ago within the palace of Empress Si Ling Chi.
The Fassi tile interacts with the artistic lines of Escher and the ancient mosaics of Volubilis, while the cosmic blacksmithing at Bab Makina serves as a tribute to blacksmiths worldwide, from the Imghad in the Great Moroccan Desert to the Romani lands.
This edition of the festival will feature artists from Morocco, India, Central Asia, China, Cambodia, and the Balkans, celebrating the creative nobility intrinsic to Fassi and Andalusian civilization. The inaugural evening marks the beginning of four days of events, gathering over 160 traditional artisans from four continents in a unique program that will showcase performances and concerts at the most iconic historical sites in Fes.
The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music is recognized as the first festival to recently receive the "Winged Mercury" award, reinforcing its role as a bridge between cultures, spirituality, and peoples.
As reported by goud.ma.
