6 x Le Guess Who?

U? Festival

8-10 November, various locations

U?, the freely accessible city program of Le Guess Who?, celebrates local and creative communities based in the Netherlands, with a strong focus on Utrecht. It takes place in the Cartesius area: a festival playground that includes music, workshops, films, exhibitions, shared meals, discussions, and much more.

Noura Mint Seymali

7 November, TivoliVredenburg

Mauritanian star Noura Mint Seymali was born into Moorish griot royalty; her father is legendary musician Seymali Ould Ahmed Vall, and she grew up singing alongside stepmother Dimi Mint Abba – a legend in her own right. Noura went on to make music with her husband Jeich Ould. Together they bring Moorish music into the global present.

Mabe Fratti

9 November, various locations

Mabe Fratti has become a fixture in Mexico’s thriving experimental music scene. With her hypnotic pieces, experimental the cellist and composer combines contemporary genres such as shoegaze and dreampop with ancestral influences from Gregorian chants to Sephardic music. Besides performing at the festival, she also presents her own curation with some very special Mexican and South American acts.

Hadra Immersive

8 November, TivoliVredenburg

The Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra and visual artist Arion de Munck present the premiere of Hadra Immersive: an ancient northern Moroccan ceremony that leads participants to collective transcendence through music and melody, culminating in a spiritual climax.

Chromesthesia

9 November, KABUL à GoGo & TivoliVredenburg

Chromesthesia is a 13-hour durational performance, part of which takes place in KABUL à GoGo. The project researches the migration of Afro-diasporic rhythms and explores the history that undergirds Afro-descendant electronic music. Under the direction of British-Egyptian historian Hannah Elsisi, artists such as Betsayda Machado, Nick León en Sho Madjozi tell this story through a selection of works.

Tip: You can purchase a ticket specifically for the program at KABUL à GoGo at a reduced price or you can already visit the freely accessible U? program during the day, with DJ’s such as TiZi and L/MA0RI, and stay for free for the Le Guess Who? program afterwards.

Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou

9 November, TivoliVredenburg
10 November, Younity/Jonkvrouw Sanderijndreef 35

A major event will take place around the exhibition MODA, Moroccan Fashion Statements at the Centraal Museum, featuring fashion, food, DJ sets, a graffiti and freestyle football workshop, and live music from, among others, Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou. This all-female Gnawa band will also perform on November 9, and will play ancient, spiritual desert blues from Morocco.