Under The Slogan “Message of Peace”, Egyptian Minister of Culture Dr Nevin Al-Kilani inaugurated the 15th edition of Samaa International Festival for Singing and Spiritual Music, which runs until September 24.
The festival is organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, in co-operation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and “The Dialogue” Foundation. The ceremonies were held in the “Cairo Northern Wall”. The opening was attended by Dr. Ashraf El-Araby, the former Minister of Planning, director Intisar Abdel Fattah – the head of the festival, many ambassadors of the participating countries and an array of the leaders of the Ministry of Culture.
During the opening, the Minister of Culture honoured many artists including Madanjeet Singh from India (received by the Indian Cultural Counselor), the great composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov from Azerbaijan (received by the Azerbaijani ambassador in Cairo), Sheikh Abdul-Jawad Muhaisin from Tunisia, artist Sabah Zidani from Morocco and Pastor Antonios Ibrahim Ayyad from Egypt. A special honour was given to veteran actress Samira Abdel Aziz, in addition to honouring the two countries Canada and India, which are the guests of honour for this edition.
Thirty Egyptian and foreign ensembles will participate in the festival, including Tripura from Romania, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, South Sudan, Indonesia, Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine, Syria and Egypt.
The festival activities will be held in many historical locations including the northern Cairo wall area, Kobet Al-Ghouri Centre, Prince Taz Palace, Beit Al-Sinari Centre, “Religions Complex” in Old Cairo districts – where the celebration of “Forum of Religions – Here We Pray Together” will be held on September 22.
