L'Boulevard (:, Arabe:) is an urban

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

held annually in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. A segment named ''Tremplin'' (

trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled spring (device), springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. ...

) is held in the form of a competition, allowing young musical groups to gain exposure to a larger audience. There are three main components to the event: L'Boulevard Festival, the Tremplin competition, and Sbagha Bagha—an opportunity for graffiti artists to cover the "White City" with their creations.

History

The event was created by Mohamed Merhari (also known as Momo) and Hicham Bahou in 1999. It was initially conceived as a competition to reward the best contestants in each of the 3 categories: hip-hop and rap, rock and metal, and fusion. Over the years, this festival has developed into a landmark event in Casablanca. Artists such as Don Bigg of Mafia C from (Casablanca),

H-Kayne H-Kayne is a Moroccan rap group that was created in the city of Meknes in 1996. History H-Kayne was formed in Meknes in 1996. The group performed their first concert in 1997. In 2003, they won first prize at the L’Boulevard festival. In 200 ...

(Meknes), Fnaïre (Marrakesh), Zanka Flow (Tangier) and others and have participated in this competition and have been chosen as the best contestants. The concerts remain one of the best opportunities for underground Moroccan music groups to make themselves known to a wider public, as well as national and international media. In 2006, some groups, such as the Portuguese

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...

group

Moonspell Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band formed in 1992. The group released their first EP, ''Under the Moonspell'', in 1994 and followed up with their debut album, '' Wolfheart'', a year later. They quickly became the most recognizable meta ...

, attracted 20,000 spectators.

Program

The festival program includes competing musical groups as well as young groups and established groups. They contribute to the development of the youth music scene through meetings and workshops.

Organization

The festival is 4 days long, with one day for each of the four genres of the festival: * electro *

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

Each day, there are two sections: * In the afternoon, there is the competition at the Racing Universitaire de Casablanca (RUC) stadium. These stages are called the "''Tremplin'' Stages." This section has also been held at the Old Abattoirs. * The evening performances take place at the ''Club Olympique Casablancais'' (COC) Stadium, where well-known national and international musicians—such as

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédér ...

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

, Gojira—are invited to perform.

2022 Incident

Due to COVID-19, the festival went through a two-year hiatus and announced its return in 2022, celebrating its 20th anniversary. On Friday 30 September , during its Rap/Hip-Hop programming, attendees reported a number of violent acts ranging from physical and sexual assault, rapes as well as crowd suffocation and stampede. there were multiple reports on security and police failed attempt to contain the crowd, and address the safety issues, as well as having no proper evacuation plans. The festival posted a press communique the next day, condemning the acts of violence committed, which gathered an outrage on social media for the lack of accountability towards the victims, and the affirmation that the festival will continue regardless of the security issues.

References

{{Reflist Casablanca Music festivals in Morocco