Egypt will be represented by singer Maryam Saleh and the Mazaher Ensemble.
Saleh, one of the leading figures in Egypt's alternative music scene, is scheduled to perform on 6 November. Born into an artistic family, she is the daughter of theatre director Saleh Saad. Her work draws heavily on the legacy of Sheikh Imam and Ahmed Fouad Negm while blending folk and shaabi influences with experimental electronic sounds.
She formed the band Gawaz Safar in 2003, combining rock music with Sheikh Imam's repertoire, before launching her solo career with Mesh Baghanny in 2012. She later collaborated with Lebanese musician Zeid Hamdan on Halawella (2015) and released Lekhfa in 2017. Her latest album, Syrr, was released in March and explores personal and introspective themes.
Mazaher, which will perform on 8 November, is dedicated to preserving and performing the ancient Zār musical tradition. The ensemble returns to the festival after making its debut there in 2021.
The group includes Um Sameh, Um Hassan, and Nour El-Sabah, alongside male musicians including lead singer Ahmed al-Shankahawy. Their repertoire draws on three traditions of Zār music in Egypt: Upper Egyptian Zār, Abul Gheit Zār, and Tamboura, or African, Zār.
Morocco will be represented by Khadija Warzazia & Bnat el Houariyat and Gnawa musician Maalem Houssam Guinia.
Khadija El Warzazia and her ensemble, accompanied by percussionists Zahra, Laïla Grimi, Zahira Grimi, Fatiha Benmsinan, and Hajiba, will perform on 6 November. The all-female group specialises in Houara and Chaabi traditions from Marrakech, genres historically associated with women's gatherings. The ensemble has performed in Morocco and internationally for more than 25 years.
Guinia is scheduled to perform on 7 November. He carries forward the legacy of his father, the late Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, one of the most influential figures in Gnawa music.
Originating in West Africa, Gnawa combines ancestral spiritual traditions, Sufi mysticism, and Amazigh influences. Known for its hypnotic and repetitive rhythms, it has traditionally been performed during ceremonial gatherings associated with trance states.
Guinia has performed in London, the Netherlands, and Azerbaijan, and is a regular participant in the Gnawa and World Music Festival in Essaouira. His latest album, Dead of Night, was released in November 2024.
From Syria, Syrian-Kurdish singer and bouzouki player Mohammad Syfkhan will perform on 5 November.
Syfkhan began playing the long-necked Anatolian lute in 1981 while training as a surgical nurse. After graduating, he worked in healthcare while pursuing a professional music career and later formed the Al-Rabie Band, which performed Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish, and Western repertoire alongside original compositions.
He fled Syria in 2016, two years after his son Fadi was killed by Daesh, and settled in Ireland. There, he performed at weddings and community events for Kurdish and Syrian audiences and occasionally in Germany. In early 2024, he released his debut album, I Am Kurdish, recorded with Irish musicians.
Palestinian artists will also feature prominently in the programme.
On 6 November, Mo'min Swaitat and Karma Abu Dagga will present a DJ set built around archival Palestinian recordings.
Swaitat founded the Palestinian Sound Archive, which documents and preserves historic Palestinian cultural heritage through music, sound recordings, and album artwork. Abu Dagga is a doctoral researcher whose work focuses on seed sovereignty, decolonial storytelling, and circular economies.
The festival will also host Palestinian-French duo Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and Frédéric D. Oberland on 8 November.
Moumneh is a member of Jerusalem in My Heart, while Oberland is part of Oiseaux-Tempête. Earlier this year, they released Eternal Life No End, an album combining Moumneh's Arabic vocals with Oberland's instrumental compositions. The work explores grief and anger in response to Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.
Beyond Arab performers, the festival will also present the British free-jazz quartet Ahmed on 6 November.
The group takes its name from Ahmed Abdul-Malik, the Brooklyn-born African American musician born Jonathan Tim Jr, whose work fused jazz with Arabic maqam traditions and North African influences.
The quartet comprises pianist Pat Thomas, saxophonist Seymour Wright, bassist Joel Grip, and percussionist Antonin Gerbal. They have released several albums reinterpreting and expanding on Abdul-Malik's musical legacy.
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