The celebration of this International Christmas Fair of Cultures, organized by the Municipal Government of Madrid, is taking place with the collaboration of embassies from more than 40 countries from around the world and foreign cultural institutes and other institutions which work to promote diversity, such as Casa Árabe.

The schedule of events includes traditional Christmas and New Year’s dances from many different countries. A special highlight will also be placed on oral narratives, with a series of storytellers who have formed a long-standing tradition in countries throughout Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East.

Music will also play a role, through a set of concerts which mix different forms of expression, including a fusion of flamenco music with American jazz, Syrian musicians in a dialogue with Turkish dervishes and Catalonian pop singers performing in Chinese.

Thanks to the cooperation by embassies, other contemporary forms of music have been scheduled to round off these performances, including DJ sessions of electronic music which mix together traditional rhythms, such as the cumbia, ranchera and candombe, as well.

Amongst the many activities you may enjoy, we would specifically highlight the concerts by Gani Mirzo (Syria) and Turaz al Andalusi (Syria), the calligraphy workshops, the children’s storytellers (from the Maghreb region), the folklore dances from Palestine known as dabke, and the DJ session of chaabi music from the Arab world.

Casa Árabe will also be putting up a stand for its Balqís bookshop, where visitors can purchase all sorts of books for both adults and younger readers.

The full, updated schedule of events for the first edition of the International Christmas Fair of Cultures is available at this website or by clicking on this link.