CAIRO: The Egyptian music band West el-Balad opened the 31st Palestinian festival for Music and Dance in Ramallah on Monday. This is the band's first participation in the festival, which ends on July 9th. The festival manager Iman Hamori said that the festival aims to celebrate the Arab uprisings throughout the region “through hosting bands that had an influence in these revelations and among them is West El-Balad.” Egyptian singer Iman el-Bahr Darweesh is also participating in the festival. “We are hosting bands that had inseparable prints on the political ground and have proven themselves in doing so,” Hamori said at a press conference. The band's energetic songs received great cheers from the attendants at the first performance of the festival. West el-Balad recently released its latest album “Robabikya.” West El-Balad is one of Egypt's first and leading independent music groups and has used Cairo's scene as a main influence in their music. This is the band's first visit to Palestine after they had participated in many international festival. Hany Adel, vocalist and guitarist, said that the band had to think and ask around before making the decision to participate. “We were afraid before coming here,” Adel told local media. “But our fear vanished when we arrived. “We wouldn't have come if an Israeli stamp would be put in our passport, but we came to Ramallah and to the Palestinian lands,” he added. West El-Balad started making music in 1999 and has a massive following inside and outside Egypt. BM
