Ashraf AboArafe
The Grüne Fête de la Musique will present on June 21st in Alexandria and on June 22nd and 23rd in Cairo an exceptional musical program complemented by discussions, exhibitions, and workshops around the preservation of the environment and eco-mobility.
For the second time, the French institute in Egypt and the Goethe-Institut Cairo are partnering with Orient Productions, Greenish and Makan Aamm to organize this green version of the famous Fête de la Musique, an annual and global celebration of music taking place in more than 120 countries. The newly added feature for this year’s festival is that it will be opened at the Jesuit Cultural Center Alexandria on 21st June and continue for two days in Cairo at Al Azhar Park. Last year, about 20 000 attendees participated in The Grüne Fête de la Musique!
The music program of Grüne Fête de La Musique (grün is German for green) features many artists and music groups from Egypt, France, and Germany: Ahmed Eid/ILYF, Aqsa Al Wast, EIN L QAL, Electro Zebala, Karim Osama , and Maryam Saleh. During a residency led by the musician Ahmed Saleh at B’sarya for Arts in Alexandria Ahmed Eid, EIN L QAL and Electro Zebala will develop unique and singular collaboration which will be performed during the festival.
In addition to the music programme, an afternoon of panel discussions, roundtables, and workshops on urban and environmental policy with researchers, public actors, and environmental activists will be offered on June 22nd and 23rd in Cairo at Al Azhar Park. In parallel, NGOs working in the field of environmental sustainability (such as El-Badeel, Very Nile, Joud and ButtonUp) will participate and present their work in interactive booths.
A special edition of the comic book Le Garage was curated by Twins Cartoon, Mohamed and Haitham El Seht, and presents six stories from comic artists from Germany and Egypt around the topic of sustainability. A limited number of books will be distributed during the festival and the Egyptian artists will be present.
The Grüne Fête de la Musique benefits from the support of the Franco-German Cultural Fund and the partnership with the EU Green Project/National Solid Waste Management Programme (EU Green/NSWMP), co-funded by the European Union and the German Government and implemented by GIZ Egypt in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment as well as media partners Sat 7 and NRJ radio.
On June 23rd, the German Ambassador Frank Hartmann, the French Ambassador Eric Chevallier and Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Egypt’s Minister of Environment, will officially deliver closing speeches and explore the booths of the participating entities at the festival.
