IWA Fest: The Fifth Edition of a Cultural Exchange Takes Place 

Launched in 2022 and rooted in Amazigh culture and Melilla’s multicultural identity, IWA Fest has established itself as a meeting place for Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean. Beyond music, the festival uses culture as a tool to connect regions, identities, and forms of expression, fostering a dialogue between tradition and modernity.

Its fifth edition took place over eight days under the theme “Connecting Europe & Africa,” with a program that combined music, film, talks, and other cultural activities at various venues throughout Melilla.

This commitment to cultural exchange resonates particularly well with Casa Árabe, which has been collaborating with the festival since 2023. Through concerts and activities in both Madrid and Melilla, the two institutions have helped build cultural bridges between Europe, Africa, and the Arab world, introducing audiences to diverse contemporary artistic expressions and reinforcing the international and Mediterranean dimensions of the IWA Fest.


This commitment to cultural exchange resonates particularly well with Casa Árabe, which has been collaborating with the festival since 2023. Through concerts and activities in both Madrid and Melilla, the two institutions have helped build cultural bridges between Europe, Africa, and the Arab world, introducing audiences to diverse contemporary artistic expressions and reinforcing the international and Mediterranean dimensions of the IWA Fest.

The partnership began in 2023 when the festival brought performances by Disco Makrout and Rust Duo to the Casa Árabe garden in Madrid, while in Melilla, Casa Árabe collaborated on a film series linked to the festival’s second edition. In 2024, the Casa Árabe garden once again hosted performances from the IWA Fest—this time featuring Joubantouja and Req Teq—while also collaborating on the Acid Arab performance in Melilla, a Franco-Algerian project that combines electronic music with sounds and vocals from the Middle East and North Africa. In 2025, the institution once again participated in the festival by supporting a concert by Tunisian musician Ghoula, whose work blends the musical heritage of the Maghreb with contemporary genres such as hip-hop and electronic music.

The relationship between IWA Fest and Casa Árabe can be understood as a collaboration based on shared cultural goals: building bridges between regions, bringing Arab and Mediterranean cultures closer to the Spanish public, and fostering artistic exchange between Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Futher information on IWA Fest