Sacred Music: A 29th Edition Under the Banner of «Renaissances»

The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music will hold its 29th edition from June 6 to 14, 2026, under the theme «Renaissances».
Remaining true to its positioning as a platform for intercultural and spiritual dialogue, the event will bring together artists from more than sixteen countries through a program combining ancestral traditions, contemporary creations and sacred musical expressions from all five continents.
In an international context marked by identity tensions and geopolitical fractures, the festival seeks to reaffirm the role of culture as a force for bringing people together.
The organizers are presenting this edition as a space for transmission, reflection and openness, where world music becomes a universal language serving coexistence and mutual understanding.
Bridging Intangible Heritage and Contemporary Artistic Approaches
The program will create a dialogue between major spiritual and musical traditions, ranging from Sufi chants to sacred repertoires from Central Asia, alongside Mediterranean and African musical expressions.
Several original productions will enrich this edition, reflecting a clear ambition to combine intangible cultural heritage with contemporary artistic practices.
Among the announced highlights is «Deeji: Nearly Three Decades», a performance conceived as an immersion into the nomadic cultures and spiritual traditions of Asia.
Inspired by caravan routes and the musical heritage of Cambodia, this creation will combine chants, dance and visual performances through an immersive scenographic approach.
The festival will also devote significant attention to the nomadic musical traditions of Central Asia.
The repertoires of Turkic-speaking bards from the steppes, performed through emblematic instruments such as the dombra and the kobyz, will illustrate the richness of an oral heritage deeply rooted in traditions of transmission and memory.
With this new edition, the Festival of Fez continues its strategy of international outreach while reinforcing its roots within Morocco’s cultural landscape.
Beyond its artistic dimension, the event confirms its ambition to establish Fez as a global capital of dialogue among civilizations and spiritual traditions.

Incarnation

Another highlight of this edition, «Incarnation», offers a contemporary reinterpretation of Cambodia’s sacred Khmer dances under the direction of Chap Chamroeunmina, accompanied by an original sound creation from French composer Mathias Delplanque. The festival extends this immersion through «ongs of the Mountains and the Steppes – An Evocation of the Silk Road» a performance bringing together artists from Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. This creation revisits the traditions of Central Asian poets, bards and seers, offering a musical journey inspired by caravan routes linking steppes, mountains and historic cities such as Samarkand.
Detailed concert schedules, performance times and venues are available on the festival’s official website. Tickets can also be purchased through the festival’s online ticketing platform.

Nomadic Traditions of Central Asia

According to its organizers, the Festival of World Sacred Music continues opening itself to the spiritual and nomadic traditions of Central Asia through a program shaped by the diversity of musical heritages.
Audiences are invited on a journey to Kazakhstan with the ensembles Yassawi and Qulansaz, whose repertoires draw from the tradition of Turkic-speaking bards of the steppes.
Blending shamanic influences and Islamic culture, their performances pay tribute to the nomadic soul of Central Asia’s great plains.
In a more contemporary register, “The Antidote” brings together three major figures from the international music scene: Bijan Chemirani, Rami Khalifé and Redi Hasa.
The three artists present an original creation blending instrumental virtuosity with mystical inspirations.
The program also gives prominence to the musical traditions of the Indian subcontinent.
The concert «Seasons of the Inner World – Ragas & Tagore», led by Pandit Shyam Sundar Goswami, explores the seasons of India through the poetic universe of Rabindranath Tagore.
The festival also honors Pakistani singer Sanam Marvi, renowned for her interpretations of great Sufi songs celebrating spiritual quest and mystical ecstasy.

Y.S.A