The 18th edition of the Fes Festival of Sufi Culture will take place from October 17 to 24 under the theme “Sufi Poetry, an Elixir of Healing,” bringing together concerts, intellectual discussions and artistic performances exploring spirituality and the search for meaning.
Held under the patronage of King Mohammed VI, this year’s festival seeks to make Fes a meeting place between Morocco’s spiritual heritage and wisdom from around the world. Its program explores the role of poetry and beauty “in a world marked by wounds and hardship.”
Fes, known for its history as a center of learning and knowledge transmission, provides the setting for the festival thanks in particular to its spiritual heritage, which brings together intellect and ethics, as well as the pursuit of beauty and the search for meaning, according to a statement from the Fes Festival of Sufi Culture Association.
The festival will open on October 17 at Bab Al Makina with a concert titled “Paths of Spiritual Love,” featuring Andalusian Arabic Hadra chants from the Harraki tradition, with singer Nabila Maan taking part.
Throughout the week, the festival’s samaa evenings, or spiritual listening sessions, will showcase the traditions of the Qadiriyya Boutchichiyya, Cherqaouia, Wazzania, Raissounia and Sicilian orders, reflecting the diversity of Morocco’s Sufi traditions and the vitality of their transmission across generations.
The program will also feature musical traditions from other parts of the world. On October 18, Shoaib Aftab Qawwal will perform examples of Pakistani Sufi singing inspired by the poet and philosopher Muhammad Iqbal. On October 21, Indian artist Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar will present “Breath of Eternity,” dedicated to the ancient North Indian Dhrupad singing tradition.
On October 23, Ivorian artist Daouda Konaté and Albanian singer Inis Qenami will perform spiritual songs at Jnan Sbil Gardens, followed by “A Journey from East to West,” a joint artistic performance featuring Marwan Hajji.
The program also includes a collaboration between Tristan Driessens and the Luthopia ensemble, with Arianna Savall on vocals and harp. The performance draws on the Sufi chants of Hildegard von Bingen.
Another performance, “Ibn Al-Khatib and the City of Love,” will feature Françoise Atlan and Kamal Hafiz.
On October 22, Leïla Anouar and Claire Antonini will present “Bach and Rumi,” bringing together two artistic and spiritual worlds while exploring the depth of inner experience.
The festival will also feature exhibitions by Odile Gineau and Marie Bourchot, as well as a screening of “Builders of the Alhambra,” directed by Isabel Fernández.
Round-table discussions will address questions including “Can beauty save the world?”, “Rumi: A Search for Healing,” “The Transformative Trial in the Great Sacred Texts” and “Poetry and Healing, Sami-Ali’s Therapeutic Journey.”
The festival will close on the evening of October 24 with “Ecstasies,” a performance bringing together Andalusian Arabic samaa and the Dervishes of Aleppo, featuring Wassim Arslan, Anas Al Attar and Nour Eddine Tahiri.
From Bab Al Makina to the gardens of Jnan Sbil, with stops at Souk Semmarine and other venues across the city, the 18th edition aims to offer Moroccan and international audiences a cultural experience built around exchange, listening and a different way of seeing the world.
