Physical Context:
Gnawa music is sung in Arabic and Berber, both of which I do not know how to speak...despite being both. Thus, I could not dive at all into the verbal context of the music, however, the physical context of the festival plays greatly into its success. Located in Essauoira, Morccoo, the Gnawa festival invites individuals from all over the world and that diversity is reflected in its lineup of performers. Its full name, “d’Essaouira Gnaoua Musiques du Monde,” or the Essaouira Festival of Gnawa and World Music, gives hint to the international scope of the festival. Given its geographic location, Moroccan sits in a prime location to welcome both domestic and international attendees. According to John Shaefer, an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Miami University, Middletown, tourists tend to be “Europeans of non-Maghribi origin in Morocco for adventure, leisure, and culture; Europeans of Maghribi family origin, often engaged in heritage quests or visiting extended family; and “marocains résidants à l'étranger,” the so-called MREs: Moroccans living and working in Europe who continue to maintain households in Morocco...and domestic Moroccan tourists [that] seek the breezy seaside escape...” (Schaefer 2017, 72). The same can also be said for its performers. Because of the open arms approach to the festival, it also welcomes players of other genres of music such as pop, rock, jazz, and world music performers. The festivals coordinators, which are backed by the Moroccan government, do everything within their power to ensure a successful event. The picturesque location on the Moroccan coast is just one of many boxes they check on the path to the four-day festival.
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