Mawazine

Mawazine is a music festival that takes place annually in Rabat, featuring many international and local music artists. The festival is presided by Mounir Majidi, personal secretary of the Moroccan King Mohammed VI. Majidi is also the founder and president of "Maroc culture" the cultural foundation which organizes Mawazine and other events.The 2013 festival was attended by an estimated 2.5 million people, which makes Mawazine the biggest festival in the world after Donauinselfest in Vienna. With 90 acts on 7 stages it has the highest ratio of attendees per stage in the world.Mawazine is one of several events which are intended to promote an image of Morocco as a tolerant nation, with a post on the event's website declaring that the festival intends to promote and support Rabat, as a city open to the world. However, it is controversial as some of the country's politicians have criticised the event for also "encouraging immoral behaviour" in addition to its dubious financing by Moroccan state-owned companies or private companies whose only client is the Moroccan state. Artists such as Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Kanye West, Ennio Morricone, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Usher, Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder, Kylie Minogue, Rod Stewart, Shakira, Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys and Deep Purple have performed at Mawazine.