Spring of Culture Festival

Two of the music industry’s most celebrated performers, opera singer Andrea Bocelli and Spanish heartthrob vocalist Julio Iglesias, pictured right, will be among the stars entertaining Bahrain during the Spring of Culture Festival which opens next month.

The festival opens on March 1 with a tribute to the iconic Umm Kulthum, performed by Egyptian singer Riham Abdul Hakim at the Bahrain National Museum.

Progressive Rock band Osiris, including Bahraini musicians, will perform at Arad Fort, in a combination of symphonic and rock music, in addition to using traditional Bahraini musical instruments.

This year’s festival will also see the return of Grammy award-winner Angelique Kidjo during an evening also at Arad Fort.Nigerian soul pop singer Asa will join Angelique on the same evening along with Ghada Ghanem, Eman Homsy, Suzana Baca and Souad Massi.

Japanese drums and bamboo flute music by renowned Japanese artist Eitetsu Hayashi will entertain audiences at the Cultural Hall, which will also host the Greatest Street show from Egypt, Shaolin Temple show from China, and Jody Sperling and her enchanting dance.

This year’s festival will also include a series of lectures at Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Centre for Culture and Research.

Topics include ‘The Pros and Cons of Arab Spring’ and ‘Is Arab Media capable of reaching or building the truth?’
Poetry lovers are also set to enjoy the festival programme, with a reading from Palestinian poet Samih Al Qassim at the House of Poetry.

Seat-numbered tickets will be used for some of the Arad Fort events. Tickets will be sold in the west wing of Seef Mall.
Tickets for Umm Kulthum and Andrea Bocelli events at the Bahrain National Museum stage will be sold at Virgin Megastore and Virginmegastore.me.

For any further details, including pricing information, call the festival’s hotline 39900630, or visit its website www.springofculture.org