Fez — Organizers of the Festival des Andalousies Atlantiques are preparing a late-October edition in Essaouira, continuing a tradition that anchors the city’s cultural calendar alongside Gnaoua.
Past editions have typically run in the final week of October—2019’s program spanned Oct. 27–29, while the 2024 edition ran Oct. 31–Nov. 2—so the 2025 outing is expected to follow a similar window, with final dates and lineup to be confirmed on the festival’s official channels.
Founded in 2003 and co-organized with the Association Essaouira-Mogador, Andalousies Atlantiques was conceived to celebrate a shared heritage where Muslim, Jewish and Christian traditions intersect—through the repertoires of al-âla, malhoun, and flamenco dialogues that have become the event’s signature. Recent editions underscore that mission explicitly, framing the festival as a platform beyond just concerts, but for coexistence and cultural memory.
The program usually blends large evening shows with intimate salon concerts, roundtables and masterclasses at venues like Dar Souiri and Bayt Dakira, with late-night sessions carrying on the city’s Souiri rhythms. In 2024, organizers highlighted cross-border ensembles from Morocco, Spain, France and the Netherlands—an international mix that the festival aims to sustain again this year.
While the detailed 2025 lineup has not yet been published, the festival’s social channels and Essaouira-Mogador announcements traditionally roll out artist names and ticketing information in the weeks leading up to opening night. Audiences can expect choral suites, matrouz tributes and flamenco-Andalusian encounters to headline the bill, alongside talks that explore history, repertoire and living traditions.
For visitors planning a fall culture trip, the takeaway is simple: Essaouira’s Andalousies Atlantiques remains one of Morocco’s most distinctive festivals, pairing scholarship and stagecraft in a city built for music by the sea. Keep an eye on the festival’s official feeds for the 2025 schedule and on-sale updates.
