21 October 2020
The Bahrain Drive-in International Music Festival 29th Edition Kicks off Tonight, H.E: We are more determined now, despite the special pandemic conditions, to make the voice of culture heard and hold this music festival as planned, than any time ever.
The 29th edition of the Bahrain International Music Festival, which is organized by the Bahrain Authority of Culture & Antiquities from 22 to 31 October 2020, kicks off tonight, 22 October 2020. Staged before a drive-in audience, this year’s edition will be held next to Qala’at al Bahrain site and will start a gorgeous concert by the international artist, Abeer Nehme entitled “The Music of The World to Dilmun” at 8:00 pm.
Speaking for the occasion, H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, President of Bahrain’s Authority for Culture & Antiquities said: “Every year in October, we celebrate music as a universal linguistic tool, a channel of discourse to dialogue and communication with the other cultures and peoples. We hereby and once again would like, through this 29th edition of Bahrain International Music Festival, to reiterate our commitment to sustainable cultural seasons and programs amid very hard times dictated by the pandemic outbreak”. H.E rejoined: “Tough the festival comes this year amid exceptional challenging circumstances caused by the Corona virus outbreak, however we insisted to hold it as planned and deployed strenuous efforts to deliver the message of culture and its beauty and love-spreading rainbow colors to everyone wherever he or she might be”
Commenting on the venue selected to hold this 29th edition of Bahrain International Music Festival, H.E pointed out that for the festival to be staged next to Qala’at al Bahrain UNESCO World Heritage List site is perfectly in line with the harmonious gathering of connected civilizations, cultures and peoples in one place. Bahrain Culture Authority is firmly committed to health precautionary and protective measures during public attendance of the live drive-in festival’s concerts.
H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa expressed her sincerest gratitude and thanks to all those who have contributed to the success of this edition of Bahrain International Music Festival, private or public entity, with special thanks to the Egyptian Embassy in Bahrain, for its constant support. H.E extended her thanks to BACA’ staff and employees, saluting the group and team work to reach the skies of glory and fame.
This October the 29th edition of this festival combines the artistry of creative minds from all around the globe, displaying different musical styles, Oriental rhythms and Latin and Jazz genres, folk arts and more. In addition, the festival has a rich program of creative music workshop series presented by Bahrain Music Institute and hosted at the National Theater from 25-28 October.
The Culture Authority seeks to provide an experience that is different for the pioneers of the cultural movement in the Kingdom of Bahrain, with everyone’s safety being a top priority, with the necessary commitment and precautionary measures and preventive measures to limit the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid 19). The audience will attend this drive-in concert only at 8:00 pm, while following its beats and listening to the beautiful rhymes via the Radio on 98.4 FM channel. Vehicles instead of standing in the designated socially distanced spots. Therefore, the attendants are asked to observe a distance between cars parked as determined by organizers, abstain from getting out of their cars for any reason so ever, wearing their face masks if they wish to communicate with one of the organizers, and make sure that *only 4 persons* are allowed to sit in the car. BACA kindly requests all attendants to disperse after concert is over, cooperate with the organizers to assure the fluidity of the traffic when entering the area and follow the instructions and guidance when leaving the parking lot of Qala’at al Bahrain Fort outside parking lot.
The concerts will be live on two radio stations (FM 95) and (FM 98.4) and on the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities channel on YouTube (CultureBah), and will be recorded and broadcasted later on Bahrain TV.
On 22 October, the Lebanese singer,Abeer Nehme, will sing the tales of our history — the performance is the launch of the Bahrain Authority for Culture &Antiquities’ 29th edition of International Bahrain Music Festival. Tangible and intangible heritage collide at the Bahrain International Music Festival through the artistry of Abeer Nehme’s voice radiating from the Qal'at al-Bahrain site, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Music of the Arab world and the West meet for a beautiful performance that will captivate the hearts of many, regaling the story of civilizations that have passed through the past 5000 years.
On 23 October, encapsulating the multi-faced spirit of the Orient, Pamela Farhat’s fabulously rich voice will immerse the Qal’at Al-Bahrain Site in harmonic beauty. This charming Lebanese singer is recognized as a multilingual artist who sings in seven languages including Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Armenian and Turkish, akin to the myriad of civilizations that have passed through this historic fort. Her charming stage presence and distinctive musical style will delight the listeners of this year’s Bahrain International Music Festival.
From France here comes artist Mario Reyes’, originally from Arles in the South of France, with his talent, a magical blend of him being a guitar virtuoso and avid traveler. His Spaniard spirit is as unwavering in him as it is with his grandparents, who had immigrated to the area he was born, and he is part of a huge Gypsy family that brought the iconic The Gipsy Kings to the world. He sings the theme music of the El Clon telenovela alongside Sandra Echeverría.
On 27 October, Mohammed bin Faris Band will take audiences on a journey into the emotive sounds of the Gulf’s unique musical culture through their live performances, shedding light on the strife of divers, parting from their families and nation by the seashore, and tunes they sang to endure the hardships along with sounds associated with weddings and other happy occasions.
On 28 October, jazz will be celebrated with years of experience meshing jazz and modern musical styles, all of The Suspenders’ performances ooze an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere. The young Bahraini saxophonist Abdulla Haji will accompany the trio for this performance. The Suspenders are a jazz trio composed of the Bulgarian singer and piano player Bobby Valchev, Russian bassist Alexander Vorobev and Colombian drummer German Cortez. Each member has an extensive background in the entertainment industry, their repertoire consisting of exceptional covers of popular jazz songs as well as their original compositions.
On 30 October, the public will certainly love pop music concert by Barbaros Büyükakkan, a famous Turkish singer who is distinguished for his unique musical style, Barbaros bridges various genres and performs in many languages — he is fluent in French, English Italian and Greek, and sings in Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic as well. From pop to jazz, his concert highlights world music at its finest.
The final festival’s concert to take place on, 31 October will feature Egyptian singer Rehab Metwai accompanies the Bahrain Music Band for a nostalgic performance of the most beautiful Arabic classical tunes. This concert, held in collaboration with the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in the Kingdom of Bahrain, comes with the participation of the Bahrain Music Band, having achieved great success.
The schedule of the Bahrain International Music Festival this year includes a variety of events, including evening and concerts from countries around the world. Pre-registration via BACA’s following website is required for participants in these scheduled workshops via www.culture.gov.bh. Workshops will be hosted by the Flexible Theatre at the Bahrain National Theater between 25 and 28 October at 6:00 pm. On 25 October, there will be Music Genres and Types of music Composition’ workshop, the Role of Music in Society on 26, while “Introduction to Music Instruments” workshop will be held on 27 October. The final workshop, “Improvised Music Playing” will be held on 28 October.
Also participating again this year Café Lilou in the 29th Bahrain International Music Festival, by offering a special and exclusive menu that includes a variety of delicious foods and drinks that are compatible with the diversity of this festival and are inspired by these cultures and musical styles in conjunction with the period of the music festival
For more information about the festival and the latest developments in the activities, you can visit the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities website www.culture.gov.bh or follow the accounts of the Culture Authority on the social networking site @culturebah.
