Tunis: Carthage Musical Days open their 11th edition with 26 shows running until October 10
The 11th edition of the Carthage Musical Days (JMC) opened on October 3, 2026, at the Opera Hall of the City of Culture in Tunis and will continue until October 10, reports the Tunisian daily La Presse.
Twenty-six shows chosen from 378 applications
The selection committee chose 26 shows from 378 submitted applications, to which the organizers added eight concerts of their choosing, according to La Presse. The performances are spread across eight venues in the capital, including Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the central artery of Tunis. The scheduled artists come from fifteen countries, according to the organizers: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt for North Africa; Palestine, Syria, and Jordan for the Mashreq; Senegal and Chad for sub-Saharan Africa, alongside several European and American countries.
Among the announced events are the shows "Dandri" and "Jadheb," concerts by Mohamed Ben Said and Mohamed Ali Chebil, and a closing performance entrusted to Syrian singer Faia Younan.
A professional market as much as a festival
The novelty of this edition lies elsewhere than on stage. Under the artistic direction of Mondher Falleh, who is also the committee president, the JMC is transforming into a professional trade fair, with six daily meetings aimed at industry stakeholders from October 5 to 10, 2026. The edition also inaugurates a jazz workshop for the Carthage Musical Days and a "JMC in the Regions" section, which takes the programming outside the capital.
A crossroads that Africa does not have in great numbers
The stakes go beyond Tunisia. Most African musicians who want to tour abroad still go through professional markets located in Europe, where contracts, tours, and rights are negotiated. Each platform of this type established on the continent shifts the industry's center of gravity a little. The presence side-by-side of artists from the Maghreb, the Mashreq, and West and Central Africa, including Senegal and Chad, also addresses an old laziness in programming: the one that cuts Africa in two at the Sahara. The JMC puts both sides of this desert on the same bill.
This article was written in French with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited below, then translated from French automatically. Read the original.
