Fez — Fez is preparing to host the ninth edition of “La Médina Florissante” (Florissant Medina), a Moroccan-Italian cultural event dedicated to intercultural dialogue between the two shores of the Mediterranean.

Held under the patronage of the Italian Embassy in Morocco, the event will run from July 3 to 5. It is organized by the Moroccan branch of the Francesco Paolo and Annamaria Ducci Foundation, in collaboration with the International Center for Intercultural Dialogue. 

Organizers have presented the 2026 edition as the ninth installment of the event. 

A Mediterranean meeting point

The program will take place in several cultural spaces in Fez, including Ksar Annoujoum, the Moroccan headquarters of the Ducci Foundation. The foundation opened its Fez branch in 2010 and has used the city as a platform for contemporary art and dialogue between European and Arab-Mediterranean intellectual communities.

This year’s edition is expected to bring together institutional, academic, and cultural figures, including Italy’s ambassador to Morocco, Pasquale Salzano, and Paolo Ducci, president of the Ducci Foundation. Allal Amraoui, president of the Istiqlal parliamentary group and head of Morocco’s delegation to the Council of Europe, is also among the announced guests.

The opening ceremony will feature a lectio magistralis by Leila El Houssi, professor of African history and institutions at Sapienza University of Rome. Her lecture, titled “Europe and the Maghreb: A Shared History Beyond Mediterranean Borders,” will set the tone for three days centered on memory, exchange, and shared cultural space.

Music, art, and Moroccan creation

Music will be one of the strongest pillars of the program. Soprano Michela Antenucci and pianist Simone Sala will perform an opera concert featuring works by Verdi, Puccini, Bellini, and Donizetti. The event will also include an Andalusian music evening led by Wissal Bennani with Trio Alhambra, before closing on Sunday with a cello concert by Marco Osbat.

Visual art will also have a central place through “La Nature et l’Homme” (Nature and Man), an exhibition by Finnish artist Tuomo Rosenlund at the Mohamed El Kacimi Gallery. The exhibition reflects on human fragility in the face of nature’s power.

Moroccan contemporary design will appear through a fashion show by Fatima Zahra Moubtahij, highlighting national craftsmanship and the evolving creativity of Morocco’s fashion scene.

Fez as a cultural bridge

Since its earlier editions, “La Médina Florissante” has positioned Fez as a symbolic venue for encounters between Europe and the Arab world. The Italian Cultural Institute in Rabat has described the initiative as part of the Ducci Foundation’s work to build a lasting bridge of dialogue between the two shores of the Mediterranean.

By combining heritage, opera, Andalusian music, visual arts, intellectual debate, and fashion, the 2026 edition continues that mission.