The 29th edition of the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, held under the High Patronage of HM King Mohammed VI, opened Thursday evening at Bab Al Makina Square with an original creation paying tribute to a living craft tradition deeply rooted in every alleyway of Fez City.
Through a journey illuminated by the glow of lanterns crafted by coppersmith artisans, the opening performance, entitled "Anima Ex Materia: From Heaven to Earth," brought together numerous artists from Morocco, India, Central Asia, China, Cambodia and the Balkans, who celebrated the creative nobility of this ancestral civilizational heritage.
The scenes unfolded one after another, forming an epic tale and a celebration of the artisan’s hand and creative gesture. Images followed in succession, drawing light from the artisan’s workshop-that secret sanctuary where the furnace, forge, chisel, potter’s wheel and bellows command the four fundamental elements of the universe: water, earth, air and fire.
Following the threads woven by the craftsmen of the medina’s narrow streets, the performance also traveled back in time five thousand years to the palace of Si Ling-chi, where the young wife of Emperor Shi Huangdi discovered silk.
The art of Fez zellige mosaics evoked Escher’s calligraphic designs and the ancient mosaics of Volubilis, while a telluric forge symbolically set Bab Al Makina ablaze in tribute to blacksmiths around the world, the Ismaghen of Morocco’s great southern regions, and the gypsies whose roof was the sky and its stars.
At the conclusion of the opening show, held notably in the presence of Fatim-Zahra Ammor, Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy, and Mohammed Mehdi Bensaid, Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, the "Young Talents -Spirit of Fez" Award was presented to five young laureates.
The award recipients were Nabil Idriss-Azami (brocade), Soukaina Moubtassim (embroidered saddles), Mohammed Ajana (ziwani leatherwork), Brahim Boulaghmoud (embroidered leather poufs), and Fatima Abdike (Meknes ceramics), accompanied by their master artisans Abdelkader Ouariagli Essafi, Hicham Sekkate, Mohamed Dekkaki, Mohammed El Fatni and Abdelhak Bellamlih.
The original creation presented on the opening night set the tone for an exceptional program prepared for this year’s edition, which is taking place across four emblematic venues in the Kingdom’s spiritual capital, combining heritage and nature: Bab Al Makina, the Jnan Sbil Gardens, the Batha Prefecture Hall, and the Fez Congress and Crafts Palace.
Through the theme "Fez and the Maâlems, Guardians of Know-How and Heritage," the Spirit of Fez Foundation, organizer of the festival, celebrates the outstanding contribution of these master craftsmen to the construction of the monuments and landmark works that have shaped the history of Fez and the Kingdom.
Over four days, the festival also promises an intensive program of sacred music blending spirituality, art and emotion. No fewer than 160 artists from around the world will perform in 18 shows
MAP:05 June 2026
