International Music Day festival marks diversity of Kurdistan Region: French Consul General

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region on Tuesday marked its first International Music Day festival in the capital of Erbil.

The festival celebrated annually in France beginning some 30 years ago, has become an international day and is recognized by more than 40 countries and over 250 cities across the world.

International Music Day, officially celebrated on June 21, commends the diversity of music, according to French Consul General in Erbil Dominique Mas.

Mas told Kurdistan 24 that in France, the public could even go into the Élysée Palace to play and listen to music and enjoy concerts free of charge.

Kurdistan’s first International Music Day was organized by the French Institute together with the French Consulate and is “a time of fraternity” and “a time of diversity,” Mas said.

“We thought that after five years of crisis—economic crisis, political and security crisis in Kurdistan and in Iraq—we thought that it was time to enjoy a little bit of life and to enjoy music,” the Consul General explained.

Tuesday’s festival included six different bands and various musicians from France as well as the Kurdistan Region and Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava).

The audience was treated to an assortment of music from metal rock to coral to rock and roll and jazz.

“You will see the diversity of the music which reflects the diversity of the people that we are welcoming tonight,” Mas told Kurdistan 24.

As Kurdistan recovers from the burden of the years-long war against the so-called Islamic State, the International Music Day is an opportunity “to celebrate life,” the French Consul General stated.

“Of course, we have a lot of families who lost some of their members and martyrs and so on, and we do believe in them, and we do think of them tonight because they died for us—for our freedom,” Mas said.

“Tonight, we want to send a very clear message: we will stand up, we will still be alive, we will still enjoy our life and our culture, the Kurdish, the Iraqi, the French culture, together.”