23 June 2008
BEIRUT: The longest day of summer visited the northern hemisphere right on schedule on Saturday, and with it World Music Day. Solstice was marked with varying degrees of festiveness in different parts of the Middle East, with Beirut - emerging from 18 months of political crisis - living up to its reputation as the party capital of the region.
The acoustic guitar ensemble Rana's Whispers (bottom) was among the dozens of acts that performed as part of the official Fete de la Musique program. The fete drew thousands of revellers to Downtown Beirut for shows in several different musical genres (from oriental to rap to choral music) in four different venues - the Roman Baths, the Samir Kassir Garden, the National Evangelical Church and the Place de l'Etoile. A less formal solstice celebration pounded just north of downtown at the St. Georges Marina (middle), where kids frolicked at a foam party.
Earlier in the day in Irbil (top), some 350 kilometers north of Baghdad, musicians were brought in to serenade prisoners in a more somber observance of World Music Day.
The Fete de la Musique originated in Paris but the lore differs as to whether the credit should go to American musician Joel Cohen, then employed in Paris, music and dance impresario Maurice Fleuret or then-Culture Minister Jack Lang. In any case, the fete was first launched in the summer of 1982, originally imagined as a free, all-night musical street party on the night of summer solstice. Since then, the fete has spread around the world. - The Daily Star
Copyright The Daily Star 2008.
