Beirut Souks
2011 witnessed the launching of the Beirut Music and Art Festival, an annual event to take place at Beirut Souks. The organizers of the event described it as "a vision that looks to fulfill Beirut’s role as cultural capital of the Middle East". The aim for this festival is to promote and strengthen the cultural scene in Lebanon and the Middle East, by proposing a combination of local musicians, world-class performers and art in all its forms. The artists' and singers' performances were divided along two stages: The Grand Stand venue and The Music village venue. The list of performers in the festival's first year included Al Di Meola, Earth, Wind &amp; Fire, Goran Bregovic, Ilham al-Madfai, Marcel Khalife, Natacha Atlas, Roger Hodgson and many more.