The Byblos International Festival is a Lebanese festival held in Byblos, believed to be the first Phoenician city, founded around 5000 BC. The festival is the biggest in Lebanon, and attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world.Official website
History The International Festival has been held annually since 2003, in July. It takes place by the seaside in the historic quarter, in front of the castle built by Crusaders in the 12th century. The festival's aims are to boost tourism, promote the Lebanese culture, and spread music and art from the Middle East to the rest of the world.Byblos Festival on Facebook.
Performances
2003 Oum (a musical about the life of Umm Kulthum)Oum, Byblos Festival. Gregorian Gotan Project Tosca Blind Boys of Alabama John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
2004 Bryan Ferry Star Academy Arab World Erik Truffaz Jimmy Cliff Munir Bashir Group (a group formed in memory of Munir Bashir)Munir Bashir Group, Byblos Festival. Placebo
2005 Roger Hodgson Buena Vista Social Club presents Omara Portuondo Aziza Mustafa Zadeh
2006 Francis Cabrel Barbara Hendricks
2007 Nouvelle Vague Alessandro Safina
2008 Patti Smith Vaya Con Dios
Chucho Valdés Quintet Michel Legrand
On 12 July 2008, midway through the festival, Byblos held a Nuit Blanche.Nuit Blanche, Byblos Festival. Among those who performed that night were:
Lumi Sebastien Tellier Mouse on Mars
2009 Loreena McKennitt Keane Grease Jethro Tull Misia Gonzales (musician) Cocorosie Y.A.S.
2010 Tribute to Wadih el Safi with Najwa Karam and Wael Kfoury Mashrou' Leila Caetano Veloso Jesse Cook Gorillaz Riverdance Le Nozze di Figaro (an opera by Mozart)Le Nozze di Figaro, Byblos Festival.
2011 A musical based on Don Quixote, created by Marwan Ghadi and Oussama Rahbani.Don Quixote , Byblos Festival. Scorpions Moby Florent Pagny Jamie Cullum Thirty Seconds to Mars Amadou & Mariam Les Mystères Lyriques Les Mystères Lyriques, Byblos Festival.
2012 Slash Julien Clerc B.B. King Ute Lemper Kadim Al Sahir Snow Patrol Tinariwen
2013 Yanni Nightwish Anuryzm CeeLo Green Lana Del Rey Pet Shop Boys OneRepublic Rahbani Summer Night Paco De Lucia Scorpions
2014 Lang Lang Marcel Khalife Yanni Massive Attack Epica Stromae Mulatu Astatke and Ibrahim Maalouf Guy Manoukian Beirut
2015 John Legend The Script Rodrigo Y Gabriela Gregory Porter Mireille Mathieu Hiba Tawaji Alt-J
See also Beiteddine Festival Baalbeck International Festival Ehmej Festival
References
External links Official website Byblos Festival on Facebook Lebanon festivals