9781422275375

Bushfire and Other Music Festivals The MTN Bushfire is an internationally renowned music festival that draws more than 20,000 attendees to the Malkerns Valley, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). First convened in 2006, the three-day event celebrates creativity with a profusion of world music mixed with artistic expression, including dance, art exhibits, poetry and storytelling, film, and workshops. Although it was first hosted on a family-run sugarcane farm, the activities have far exceeded the initial expectations of the organizers. Other major music events in Africa include the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, which was founded in 1994 by Faouzi Skali, a scholar and philanthropist. Located in Morocco, above the Atlas Mountains, the 10-day spiritual celebration draws more than 2 million attendees. With Fes el Bali positioned as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the festival has a unifying influence through interfaith exchange and tolerance. It’s a pilgrimage that some attendees make every year to experience dancing monks, Sufi chants, Japanese drummers, Berber music, and whirling dervishes. Although controversial, the Moroccan Mawazine festival includes some of the world ’ performance artists. Recent festival performers have included Bruno Mars s most famous ( pictured ) , Rihanna,

Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Lopez, and others.