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Baalbeck International Festival

{{Short description|Cultural event in Lebanon}}

The Baalbeck International Festival ({{langx|ar|مهرجانات بعلبك الدولية|Mahrajānāt Baʿlabakk ad-Duwaliyya}}; {{langx|fr|Festival International de Baalbeck}}) is a cultural event in Lebanon.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lebanontraveler.com/en/magazine/get-ready-for-the-baalbeck-international-festival/|title=Get Ready for the Baalbeck International Festival|last=LBTAdmin|date=2018-07-05|website=Lebanon Traveler|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-01}} Since 1955, people from around the world have gone to the city of Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon to attend the annual festival. Classical music, dance, theater, opera, and jazz as well as modern world music are performed each July and August in the ancient Roman Acropolis.[http://www.baalbeck.org.lb/venu.asp?lng=en http://www.baalbeck.org.lb/venu.asp?lng=en] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202111914/http://www.baalbeck.org.lb/venu.asp?lng=en |date=2007-02-02 }}, BIF Venues.

The presidents of the festival have been as follows:

Aimée Kettaneh from 1956 to 1968,

Salwa es-Said from 1969 to 1972,

May Arida from 1973 to 2010 and

Nayla de Freige from 2011 to present.

History

The festivals date back to the mid 20th century with the first organizing activities being held in 1955 as part of the "Touristic Year 1955." After one year, President Camille Chamoun appointed a festival committee with Kettaneh as its President, and named it the Baalbeck International Festival. It became a governmental institution whose goal was to promote tourism and Lebanese culture. The festival was held in July and August in the ruins of the Roman temples. In the early 1960s, it established a drama school called Théâtre Libanais Moderne for the promotion of works done by Lebanese authors.

After the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) and the cessation of festival activities for a quarter century, the festival reopened in 1997.

Festival highlights

{{unreferenced section|date=November 2014}}

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;Ballet

;Dance

;Jazz

;Orchestra

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;Singers, musicians, actors

;Bands

;Theatre

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References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.baalbeck.org.lb Baalbeck International Festival Website]

{{Members of the European Festival Association}}

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Category:Baalbek

Category:Music festivals in Lebanon

Category:1955 establishments in Lebanon

Category:Annual events in Lebanon

Category:Music festivals established in 1955