Despite the chilly night, audiences amassed in great numbers at the opening of Art Medium’s “Dum Tak” Arab alternative music festival at the Bisharat Golf Club on Tuesday.
The festival, which concludes on Saturday, is a chance for music lovers to attend open-air concerts featuring bands from across the region such as Lebanese Mashrou’ Leila or the Jordanian rock band El Morabba3.
“We wanted to focus on Arabic music and on the region. Once we announced the event, a lot of bands from the region started approaching us,” said Amal Hammoudeh, operations manager at the event management company Art Medium.
Hosting 15 performances over five days, the festival showcases "the versatility of Arabic music", offering a variety of music styles ranging from reggae to indie pop and rock, according to the organisers.
“We started off organising concerts but then we thought of doing a festival instead of spreading events over the year’s course”, the event organiser told The Jordan Times in an interview.
Due to the positive feedback the organisers received even before the first band names had been listed, they said they plan to organise similar events in the future.
“We are expecting around 1,000 people per day. For the last day [Saturday] we are expecting the biggest audience as Mashrou’ Leila will be performing and they have played here before, so the Jordanian audience knows them,” Hammoudeh noted.
The Palestinian “mountain reggae” band Toot Ard opened the five-day event, provoking early dance moves among the crowds as soon as they hit their first notes.
“The mentalities are changing in Jordan and music and concerts are more accepted today. There is a huge demand for events like Dum Tak,” Hammoudeh said.
She recalled a government official’s comments during one of their meetings to plan for the festival.
“He said he dreamt of having this kind of event organised when he was a teenager; he even used to play in a rock band himself,” Hammoudeh added.
By Gaelle Sundelin
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