Latifah Laqis: Festivals encourage young talent to stay in Lebanon

By Nohad Topalian in Beirut
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-06-14

[JOSEPH FADDOUL/Al-Shorfa] Latifah Al-Laquis, president of the Byblos International Festival, says the festival will feature Lebanese and international talent.

Lebanon's Byblos International Festival kicks off July 1st by honouring the renowned Lebanese artist Wadih Al-Safi, in an evening entitled " Lebanon, a Piece of Heaven", inspired by his famous song of the same title.

Latifah Laqis, president of the Byblos International Festival, talked with Al-Shorfa about the festival and its importance in encouraging young people to develop their talents and stay in the country.

Al-Shorfa: Tell us about the festival's programme.

Latifah Laqis: Our programme is distinctive with a cultural calendar aimed at Lebanese youth. We have a diverse foreign program. There will be an evening with the group Veloso Caetano and another evening with Canadian singer Cook Jesse. We are also presenting the Brazilian band Gorillaz for the first time in the Middle East and Riverdance, the Irish dance group.

Al-Shorfa: What is the "Lebanese Nights" programme?

Laqis: Unlike previous years, we are opening the festival with a Lebanese evening par excellence. It is an evening entitled "Lebanon, a piece of heaven", dedicated to honour the Lebanese artist Wadih Al-Safi. Najwa Karam and Wael Kfouri will be performing as well as Al-Safi himself.

We are also devoting an evening of rock and roll to Lebanese youth through students from the American University of Beirut.

Al-Shorfa: What is new this year?

Laqis: The new show that we are presenting is the opera "The Wedding of Figaro", performed by Lebanese and Italian artists. The festival will salute Chopin on August 22nd, marking his 200th birth date. The French-German pianist Knether Fas Frederick is holding a concert in the church of Mar Jirjis Ghalboun.

There are four concerts within the programme "Off Byblos Festival" that are dedicated to young people: the two groups "Al-Sarab" and "UTNI", the presentation of Joe Qdeih's play "Ashrafieh", and finally a jubilant singing evening.

Al-Shorfa: Why did you decide to move some events, such as the Chopin evening into local villages?

Laqis: As everybody knows, the main objective of the festival is economic development. By organising an evening in a village means that we want to reach the entire district with this activity.

Al-Shorfa: Did the festival achieve its international dimension?

Laqis: We are trying, by selecting the programmes under the slogan of Byblos International Festival, not only to provide foreign programmes, but to broaden the focus to include different cultures. But to do so, we take into account the nature of the audience both at the local and global levels.

What we are presenting qualifies as diverse programming that reflects cultural diversity, to confirm Lebanon's message, and highlight its civilised image to the world.

Al-Shorfa: The Byblos Festival is known for its youthful audience. Why is that the case?

Laqis: Because we want to encourage young people to develop their skills so they could stay in the country. The programme known as the "Off Byblos Festival" is directed to prompt more participation from young people in addition to the evenings within the official programme.

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