The world is your musical oyster!
As the UK weather gradually improves and the summer music festival season approaches why not consider dovetailing some serious world music into your travel plans over the ensuing months?
Songlines Music Travel* is a UK company that puts the very soul of a country – its music – into the heart of its unique travel itineraries around the globe. From Morocco to Mali and from Seville to Salvador there is a choice of 18 different itineraries to choose from, many of which provide exclusive access to musicians and festivals, with private jam sessions and meetings with instrument makers that would not be possible without Songlines’ extraordinary global network of musical contacts.
Groups will be kept deliberately small (10 to 20) - to keep the experience intimate and memorable and the itineraries also provide plenty of scope to see the historic and cultural highlights of each country visited, to really get under its skin. Holidays will never seem the same again!
Here are two examples of forthcoming trips to whet your musical appetite:
The Gnawa and World Music Festival, Morocco (24-28 June) 5 days from £395 pp
Essaouira on Morocco’s Atlantic coast is the setting for this colourful, annual musical extravaganza. For four days the town is enveloped in the music which shares its routes with America blues, originating from the times in which slaves were brought to Morocco from sub-Saharan Africa. Thousands of people crowd the streets between open-air stages as the Gnawan musicians demonstrate many different styles with some sessions lasting deep into the night.
Three full days (and nights) will be spent at the festival before heading back to Marrakech to enjoy a last night enjoying the souks and the main square which bursts into life at dusk every evening when the food vendors, musicians, acrobats, snake charmers and fire eaters arrive to ply their trade. The holiday costs from £395 pp (2 sharing) which includes return transfers from Marrakech to Essaouira, four nights’ B&B and the services of an expert Songlines Music Travel leader. The tour can also be extended with a further three nights in Marrakech.
Serbia – Guca Brass Band Festival (6 days from £745 pp)
Every year 300,000 people descend on the village of Guca in Serbia for the Golden Trumpet competition. It's one of the wildest festivals in Europe and this year Guca celebrates its 50th edition and some very special musical guests have been invited to join the party.
The festival has been extended to last 10 days rather than the usual long weekend and a new trumpet museum is also opening in the village. Songlines Music Travel has chosen the three days to visit the festival that it has judged are the best to catch the most exciting artists; Boban Markovic, Shantel, and this year’s Songlines Music Awards winner, Goran Bregovic, plus the first international brass band competition.
All this plus feasting on spit-roasted lamb and pork, free-flowing alcohol and dozens of Serbian and Gypsy brass bands playing the kolo and the cocek (local dances). Songlines Music Travel’s guests will receive an information sheet about the local music plus recommended recordings and DVDs.
The trip departs on 16 August and costs from £745 pp (two sharing) which includes flights, transfers, 5 nights’ B&B, festival entry and the services of an expert tour leader.
For more information and bookings, visit: songlines.co.uk/musictravel
* Songlines Music Travel is a joint venture between Songlines magazine, the leading world music publication, and The Tailor-Made Groups Company, one of the most experienced specialised operators in the business. The expert tour leaders for each trip are each handpicked by Songlines Music Travel.