Making The Connection

A new Arabic alternative music festival is set to launch on January 20, promising to showcase the best bands and singers the region has to offer.

It’s getting late at Tamanya Terrace in Dubai Media City, but people are continuing to pour in. On stage are the Lebanese/Egyptian duo Maii + Zeid, an example of the kind of Arabic musical union the team behind the forthcoming Wasla music festival are keen to embrace: Maii Waleed, an Alexandrian singer, songwriter and guitarist; Zeid Hamdan, a Lebanese underground producer for whom little introduction is necessary. If you haven’t heard of Hamdan and of his former band Soapkills, you need to retrace your musical footsteps.