Esperanzah! is a

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

which has been offering a varied programme of well-known and less familiar artists since 2002. It takes place at

Floreffe Abbey Floreffe Abbey () is a former Premonstratensian monastery, the second of the order to be founded, situated on the Sambre at Floreffe, about south-west of Namur, Wallonia, Belgium. History When Norbert of Xanten, founder of the Premonstratensia ...

, between

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

and

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It is organised by the nonprofit organisation Z! which also organised Verdur Rock (in 2015 and 2016) as well as Jyva'Zik.

Characteristics

Two stages are built to be used by more than 20 groups. The stage "côté jardin" showcases artists of various origins who remain true to their roots or offer musical projects that combine instruments, rhythms and melodies from different traditions. As for the "côté cour" stage, it is more urban and offers a mix of genres between traditional rhythms and more modern music. Artists hosted include: Tryo,

Manu Chao Manu Chao (; born José Manuel Tomás Arturo Chao Ortega on 21 June 1961) is a French-Spanish musician. He sings in French language, French, Spanish language, Spanish, English language, English, Italian language, Italian, Arabic, Catalan language ...

, Patti Smith,

La Ruda La Ruda is an alternative rock group from Saumur, France formed in 1993. The group was initially called La Ruda Salska, a name inspired by the Polish town: Ruda Śląska Ruda Śląska (; ) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowi ...

Salska, Les Ogres de Barback, La Rue Ketanou, La Kinky Beat, Les Hurlements d'Leo, La Phaze, N&SK, Dub Incorporation, Balkan Beat Box, Marcel et son Orchestre, Saule, Hocus Pocus, Fauve, and others. The festival also offers film screenings, artistic creations, conferences, activities for children,Plus de 27.000 spectateurs au festival Esperanzah!
''Dhnet.be'', 10 août 2008 craftsmen and restaurants from around the world, street artists, a fair trade cocktail bar, Esperanzah! radio 24 hours a day and two campsites. The public is also educated on the importance of sorting waste.

History

During its first edition in 2002, the festival welcomed about visitors. The number of participants in the 2008 edition was approximately . In 2013, there were almost spectators, and nearly 46,000 in 2014.

Radio Esperanzah!

Since the 2004 edition, Radio Esperanzah, a temporary radio station launched by people involved in

free radio ''Free Radio'' is a television show, created by Lance Krall and Rory Rosegarten. The show originated on VH1, but has also aired on Comedy Central, and Super Channel. It stars Lance Krall, prominent for his role on ''The Joe Schmo Show'', and An ...

in French-speaking Belgium,Good Morning Esperanzah
on ''Fronstage, le blog pop rock du Soir'', 4 août 2011 has been covering the festival, thus enabling listeners online to experience the festival.

Notes and references

External links

Site officiel du festival Esperanzah!
The official website of the festival (in French)
Le site de Radio Esperanzah!
The website of Radio Esperanzah! (in French) {{portal, Belgium World music festivals Music festivals in Belgium French-language radio stations in Belgium