LAST Thursday, the third “Folk Carnival” of the 10th International Samaa Festival for Spiritual Music and Chanting (20-27 September) took place at Al-Muizz Street, the heart of Fatimid and Islamic Cairo. It was intended to coincide with World Peace Day. The crowds gathered around the participating troupes from all over the world in an artistic riot that lasted over two hours. The carnival started at Al-Fotouh Gate and stretched all the way to the other end of Al-Muizz at Al-Ghoureya, with artistic performances in which all the troupes participated in rotation. An audience of all ages and social backgrounds was extremely responsive to all the music of 20 countries including India, Greece, China, Nigeria, Romania, Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, Syria and Palestine as the guest of honour. And they expressed their admiration for all the musicians equally. Founder and president of the festival artist Intesar Abdel-Fattah gave a seminar at the Supreme Council of Culture on Sunday. He spoke of his 10-year journey since founding the festival, the dialogue of cultures and the essence of all religions: “love, tolerance and peace” for all human beings. This round, he added, brings over two muezzins from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Palestine, who concluded the festival's activities yesterday at the Salaheddin Citadel. The festival is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Ministry of Antiquities and Hiwar (Dialogue) Foundation for the Arts of Peoples' Cultures.