The Gnaoua Festival was the result of an original concept: to resonate the musical tradition of Gnaoua with other forms of music from around the world. Over the years, some of most well-known international artists have appeared alongside the great maâlems, letting their creativity and imaginations run wild. From Randy Weston to Omar Sosa and Lucky Peterson, so many magnificent artists have performed on the Festival stages, blending their music, style, and individual instruments and tempos with the art of the late Mahmoud Guinéa, Abdeslam Alikane, and Hamid El Kasri (as hosts and masters of their art, these maâlems are extraordinary alchemists who invite all musical inclinations to the stage, from jazz to electronic, from Afro to rock). 

The Gnaoua Festival is in large part responsible for the renaissance of the city of Essaouira. This birthplace of Gnaoua music has become a Moroccan Woodstock, where the ambient bohemian culture and art-filled spirit have been brought back to life by the Festival. Historically, the city is a crossroads of diverse populations, and now, every year, three to four hundred thousand festivalgoers descend upon the city every year, vibrating to the sounds of brass crotals. The Gnaoua Festival has also been a major vector of the city’s development, both cultural and economic. Bringing in its wake a huge economic boom, the Festival has been a godsend for the residents and business community of Essaouira.