Music without
borders.

Anass Lakhsassi

Anass Lakhsassi is one of the Gnawa Talent 2025 winners within Digital Lila, a collaboration between Holland Gnawa Festival and Gnaoua Culture. He joins Halima Boulkhair El Gourd, Ijjo Beljaoui and Fatima Ezzahra Jebli for the official festival opening at Juliana Plaza on 28 October at 18:30. Invitation only.

Fatima Ezzahra Jebli

Fatima Ezzahra Jebli is one of the Gnawa Talent 2025 winners within Digital Lila. She joins the official festival opening at Juliana Plaza on 28 October at 18:30, alongside Anass Lakhsassi, Halima Boulkhair El Gourd and Ijjo Beljaoui. Invitation only. On 1 November she returns with Ijjo Beljaoui and Halima as Super Gnawa Girls, performing with Marmoucha Orchestra at Koninklijke Schouwburg.

Trans Sahara Electro

Aziz Ozouss + Dedex Grande (Efe Erdem).

Trans Sahara Electro connects North African sounds with jazz, rock and electronic beats. Trombonist Efe Erdem, also known as DeDeXgrande, combines live electronics with musicians from Marmoucha. Special guest Aziz Ozouss contributes vocals, guitar and percussion. This concert shares the Gnaoua Electro Live programme at Korzo with Elements of Baraka.

Elements of Baraka

Elements of Baraka brings together Adil Smaali, producer and trumpeter Lakay, and percussionist Miloon. The trio combines the repetition, singing and rhythms of Gnawa and Sufi hadra with electronic music. Distorted guembri, percussion, dub and techno shape their sound. At Korzo they share the Gnaoua Electro Live evening with Trans Sahara Electro.

Kalimba Quartet

Kalimba Quartet brings Gnawa and West African Mandingue music together. Guembri player and singer Khalil Mounji meets kora player and griot Mbemba Diabaté from Casamance. Guembri, kora, percussion and balafon create a dialogue between musical traditions and contemporary sounds. The evening at De Regentes includes a workshop, concert and closing jam session.

Maâlem Abdelkebir Merchane

Maâlem Abdelkebir Merchane is a Gnawa master from Marrakech. His musical education began in childhood, bringing him into contact with different masters of the tradition. His playing connects the melodic style of Essaouira with the more powerful rhythms of Marrakech. He performs with Abdellah Daoudi at Koninklijke Schouwburg on 31 October. Gnawa & Chaabi Royal Night runs from 20:00 to 23:15, with an interval from 21:15 to 21:45. One shared concert evening, one ticket.

Abdellah Daoudi

Abdellah Daoudi is a Moroccan singer and violinist rooted in chaâbi, Morocco’s popular music tradition. His performances bring together voice and violin. He has appeared several times at the Mawazine festival in Salé. On 31 October he shares the evening with Maâlem Abdelkebir Merchane at Koninklijke Schouwburg.

Official information ↗ · Artist page ↗

ANDRS (3+) · 4HOOG

A colourful, afrofuturistic world of music, imagination and care for one another. This visual family performance welcomes everyone aged three and up. 1 November, 15:00–15:40, Theater aan het Spui, Zaal 2.

Source photo: Rafaël Bracke · festival adaptation. Performance page ↗

Hassan El Fad

Hassan El Fad is a Moroccan actor and comedian whose theatre and comedy offer a humorous perspective on everyday life and human habits. On 1 November he opens the programme at Koninklijke Schouwburg; after the interval, Marmoucha Orchestra and The Super Gnawa Girls take over. The complete programme runs from 16:15 to 19:00.

Marmoucha Orchestra & The Super Gnawa Girls

Ijjo Beljaoui, Halima and Fatima Ezzahra Jebli form Super Gnawa Girls. At Holland Gnawa Festival 2026 they join Marmoucha Orchestra on the Koninklijke Schouwburg stage on 1 November, bringing their Gnawa performances together with the orchestra’s broad sound. Fatima Ezzahra Jebli also takes part in the official opening on 28 October.

Marmoucha Orchestra

Marmoucha connects musical traditions from the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean with contemporary music. The orchestra brings musicians from different backgrounds together and creates space for new encounters. On 1 November it performs at Koninklijke Schouwburg with Super Gnawa Girls: Ijjo Beljaoui, Halima Boulkhair El Gourd and Fatima Ezzahra Jebli. Marmoucha musicians also contribute to Trans Sahara Electro at Korzo on 29 October.

Ijjo Beljaoui

Ijjo Beljaoui is part of Super Gnawa Girls alongside Halima Boulkhair El Gourd and Fatima Ezzahra Jebli. She joins the official opening at Juliana Plaza on 28 October at 18:30 (invitation only), and the joint programme with Hassan El Fad and Marmoucha Orchestra at Koninklijke Schouwburg on 1 November, 16:15–19:00.

Halima Boulkhair El Gourd

Halima Boulkhair El Gourd forms Super Gnawa Girls with Ijjo Beljaoui and Fatima Ezzahra Jebli. She joins the official opening at Juliana Plaza on 28 October at 18:30 (invitation only), and the joint programme with Hassan El Fad and Marmoucha Orchestra at Koninklijke Schouwburg on 1 November, 16:15–19:00.

Farid Ghannam, Gerben van Etten & Friends

Gnaoua grooves meet the sound of the seventies. Songwriter and pianist Gerben van Etten met singer Farid Ghannam at a jam session at Boultek in Casablanca in 2011. Gerben was performing with The Cosmic Carnival; Farid added vocals in Tachelhit and Darija. Their collaboration has taken them to Paradiso, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ and Théâtre Mohammed V in Rabat. Farid combines his wide vocal range with guembri and bass guitar; Gerben plays piano. On Sunday 1 November at 20:00–22:00, they perform at ZOJazz Stage in Amsterdam with musicians who share a love of seventies sounds.

Rajae El Mouhandiz — A Love Supreme

A work-in-progress music-theatre matinee inspired by John Coltrane and Gnawa and Diwan traditions. Rajae El Mouhandiz brings together acoustic songs, a lecture-performance and a conversation with the audience. An archive installation offers a glimpse into her research. 1 November at 15:00, Theater aan het Spui.

Official information ↗ · Artist page ↗

AGO Gnawa

AGO Gnawa brings together saxophonist Luc Mishalle and mâalem Driss Filali. Their collaboration explores Gnawa traditions through singing, percussion, saxophone and improvisation. 1 November at 19:30, PAARD. Doors open at 19:00.

Official information ↗ · Artist page ↗

Remork & Karkaba

Remork & Karkaba combines a wind ensemble with Moroccan Gnawa percussion, singing and dance. Traditional melodies meet compositions by Luc Mishalle, alongside the Karkaba training project led by Driss Filali and Mohamed Saïd Akasri. 1 November, 14:35–16:30: Gnawa Parade with Remork & Karkaba. Start at the Spui foyer, continue to Koninklijke Schouwburg (Rotonde), take a break from 15:30 to 15:50, then resume at the Rotonde and continue to PAARD. Photo: © Omar Havana.

Official information ↗ · Artist page ↗

Gnawa Diffusion

Gnawa Diffusion was founded in Grenoble in 1992 around Amazigh Kateb. The Algerian band brings Gnawa together with rock, reggae, rap, blues and chaâbi. Guembri and karkabs carry a sound that connects tradition with contemporary energy. Singing in Arabic, French and English, the group explores freedom, love and peace. Gnawa Diffusion closes the festival at Amare’s Danstheater on 7 November at 19:45.