Posted in: 30/05/2022 – 17:02Last updated: 30/05/2022 – 17:00
Beirut (AFP) – The audience will return for the first time in three years to the Baalbek International Festival in eastern Lebanon next summer, following its absence for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in an event that its organizers stressed on Monday as “cultural resistance” in light of an unprecedented economic and social crisis in Lebanon.
Festivals President Nayla de Freij confirmed in a statement that holding the event, which includes four concerts and runs from July 8 to July 17, “in these times when Lebanon is witnessing successive crises”, represents “a challenge and a form of cultural resistance.”
She stressed the need for Lebanon not to abandon “its role as an artistic and cultural pillar (…) and its unwavering commitment to the young generation.”
She recalled that the Baalbek International Festival “has been keen over the past years to preserve its role as a cultural beacon and has adapted to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the emerging economic reality in the country”, by only broadcasting the 2020 and 2021 concerts on television stations and social networks.
The Governor of the Baalbek-Hermel region, Bashir Khader, explained that “life will return this year to Baalbek,” whose people “missed the festivals,” considering that the ancient event that was held for the first time in 1955 this year constitutes “a glimmer of hope and a space for joy despite all circumstances.”
The audience is already returning “to the steps of the Temple of Bacchus,” according to de Freij, following the two virtual versions of the festival attracted “more than 17 million views,” she explained.
The festival will open on July 8 with a concert that is a tribute to “the traditional Lebanese music and songs”, as described by de Freij, the Lebanese singer Sumaya Baalbaki will perform the orchestra, while the Maestro Lebanon Baalbaki will conduct the orchestra.
To complement the festival’s “commitment to support young talents”, pop-rock band Adonis will debut on July 10.
The festival was filled with an evening of flamenco and jazz on July 11 with Spanish guitarist and composer Jose Quevedo Polita in a concert entitled “Quateco Trio”, accompanied by Rafael Diatrera and percussion by Carlos Moreno.
The event concludes on the 17th of the same month with a concert prepared for the Baalbek Festivals, signed by the Lebanese-French pianist Simone Grechi, who was behind the initiative to hold a concert in support of the Baalbek Festivals at the Arab World Institute in Paris last December.
Grechi is accompanied by Iranian dancer Rana Gharghani and Italian composer Jacopo Baboni Schillingi.
Lebanon usually witnesses a lot of concerts and music festivals during the summer in various parts of the country, but these artistic events have been almost completely absent from the country during the past two years due to the pandemic that exacerbated the consequences of the financial collapse, which the World Bank ranked among the three worst crises in the world since 1850.
© 2022 AFP
