The 15th edition of Mawazine Festival, an international music festival held annually in the Moroccan capital of

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populatio ...

, took place from 20 May to 28 May 2016.

OLM Souissi stage

The R&B singer

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to ''Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempor ...

opened the festival in OLM Souissi stage, May 20. Followed by, the next day, the Australian rapper

Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognitio ...

who performed for 90 000 fans. The French pop star

Maître Gims Gandhi Bilel Djuna (; born 6 May 1986), better known by his stage name Maître Gims () and more recently just Gims (, ; sometimes stylized as GIMS), is a Congolese-French rapper, singer and songwriter. He grew up in France and currently lives i ...

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, ...

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

, and

Kendji Girac Kendji "Girac" Jason Maillié (; born July 3, 1996), also known mononymously as Kendji, is a French singer-songwriter. He is the winner of season 3 of the music competition '' The Voice: la plus belle voix'' as part of Team Mika. He has release ...

have also performed on the stage. But the most attended shows in OLM Souissi stage were:

Hardwell Robbert van de Corput (; born January 7, 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by '' DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 ...

's and

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

's, with 180 000 and 250 000 people attending respectively. Also,

's show happened to be the most attended show of a female western entertainer.

Nahda stage

Diana Haddad Diana Haddad ( ar, ديانا حداد; born 1 October 1976) is a Lebanese singer, actress, and television personality who also holds Emirati citizenship and is based in the United Arab Emirates. Haddad is one of the most popular Arabic pop mu ...

opened the festival in the Nahda stage, in front of thousands of fans.

Melhem Barakat Melhem Barakat ( ar, ملحم بركات‎; 15 August 1945 – 28 October 2016), also known as Melhim Barakat, or Abou Majd was a Lebanese singer, songwriter, and melodist. Barakat was a well-renowned singer in Lebanon and the wider Arab wor ...

, Hatem Al-Iraqi,

Yara Yara may refer to: People * YARA (girl group), a Filipino girl group * Yara (given name) * Yara (surname), a Japanese surname * Yara (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese pop singer * Yara (footballer) (born 1964), Brazilian footballer Locations ...

, and Saber Rebaï have all performed later on the stage.

Myriam Fares Myriam Fares ( ar, ميريام فارس , ; born 3 May 1983) is a Lebanese singer, actress, and entertainer. Personal life Fares, born in Kfar Chellal, Sidon District to a Maronite Christian family, married a Lebanese-American businessman ...

gave her first performance in the festival on the Nahda stage after giving birth to her son.

Sherine Sherine Sayed Mohamed Abdel-Wahab ( ar, شيرين سيد محمد عبد الوهاب; born October 8, 1980), known professionally by the mononym Sherine ( ar, شيرين), is an Egyptian singer, actress, TV host and personality, and a former ...

also gave a performance after announcing earlier that she would retire.

Assi El Helani Mohammed Muzen El Hallani ( ar, محمد مزين الحلاني), widely known as Assi El Hallani; born November 28, 1970), is a Lebanese singer and actor. El Helani's musical career started after winning Studio Al Fan, a TV program for young a ...

performed in front of 80 000 fans in the same stage, and

Saad Lamjarred Saad Lamjarred ( ar, سعد لمجرد; born 7 April 1985) is a Moroccan singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, record producer and actor. He grew up in an artist family and became famous after his songs broke YouTube audience records, ...

also performed, Friday, May 27 for 140 000 fans.

Bouragrag stage

Rokia Traoré Rokia Traoré (born 24. January 1974) is a Malian-born singer, songwriter and guitarist. She made six albums between 1998 and 2016. ''Bowmboï'' (2003) won the Critics Award category at the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music in 2004 and ''Tcham ...

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandros ...

, Bombino, Faiz Ali Faiz,

Ernest Ranglin Ernest Ranglin (born 19 June 1932) is a Jamaican guitarist and composer who established his career while working as a session guitarist and music director for various Jamaican record labels including Studio One and Island Records. Ranglin pla ...

& Friends, The Afrobeat Experience, Omar Sosa & Friends, National Orchestra of Barbes all performed in the Bouragrag stage. Mokhtar Samba closed the festival Saturday, May 28.

Salé stage

The stage welcomed mostly Moroccan artists, with live performances from Hatim Idar, Mohammed Reda, Zinab Oussama, DJ K-Rim, Rhany, Saïda Fikri, Ahouzar, the

Amazigh , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

diva Fatima Tachtoukt, Najat Tazi, the Tangaoui pop singer Aminux, Sami Ray,

Kader Japonais Abdel Kader Haiboui (Arabic: عبد القادر هيباوي; born March 11, 1979), better known as Kader Japonais, (Arabic: كادير الجابوني or قادر جابوني) is a popular, award-winning Algerian Raï singer and production a ...

, the Moroccan band Hoba Hoba Spirit, Gabacho Maroc, Darga, Alamri, Chaabi singers Hajib and Abdelaziz Stati, Moroccan rappers Muslim, H-Kayne and H-name, Douzi, Rachid Berriah, Rachid Casta, Bilal El Maghribi and Hamid El Mardi. But the highlight of the stage was the Moroccan Chaâbi singer

Najat Aatabou Najat Aâtabou ( ar, نجاة اعتابو; born 1960) is an Berber Moroccan singer, songwriter and composer. Her song "Hadi Kedba Bayna" was sampled by the Chemical Brothers in their 2004 song " Galvanize". Early life Najat Aâtabou was ...

, who set a record for the most attended show of a female entertainer ever, with more than 300 000 people attending.

Chellah stage

Alireza Ghorbani, Noëmie Waysfeld, Kakushin Nishihara and Gaspar Claus, The Musicians of Cairo, Souffles Quartet, Antonio Castrignanò, Ines Bacán, Majid Bekkas, and Pedro Soler have all performed in the Chellah stage.

Théatre Mohammed V

Kadhim Al-Sahir opened the Mawazine festival in Théatre Mohammed V with a sold-out show. Alma de Tango,

Le Trio Joubran Le Trio Joubran ( ar, الثلاثي جبران) is an oud trio playing traditional Palestinian music. The trio consists of the brothers Samir, Wissam, and Adnan Joubran, originally from the city of Nazareth, now dividing their time between ...

Natacha Atlas Natacha Atlas ( ar, نتاشا أطلس}; born 20 March 1964) is an Egyptian-Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "'' cha'abi moderne''" (modern popular music). Her mu ...

, Qawwali Flamenco,

Imany Nadia Mladjao (born 5 April 1979), better known by her stage name Imany (), is a French pop-soul recording artist of Comorian descent. Her debut album, ''The Shape of a Broken Heart'', which was released in 2011, reached platinum status in Franc ...

, Paco Renteria, El Gusto, and Safwan Bahlawan also performed in the stage.

References

{{Reflist Festivals in Morocco