The 2024 edition of Lebanon’s Oakenfest - a thriving eco-conscious music and camping festival known for its inclusive lineups, made up of established and rising talents from across the MENA region - is just a few days away. Taking place amidst the verdant oak forests of Lehfad in North Lebanon from July 19th to July 21st, the festival is bringing together a diverse selection of regional artists from Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan, spanning various genres from electronic, Arab pop and tarab to shaabi, dabke, indie-rock and more.
More than a music festival, Oakenfest combines artistic expression and cultural discovery, providing festival-goers with on-site activities, workshops, and booths showcasing Lebanon’s rich art and culture tapestry, as well as yoga meditations and social gatherings by the beach.
Keep scrolling to check out the full catalogue of MENA acts taking over Oakenfest’s 2024 edition…
Snakeskin
Snakeskin is a Beirut-based visionary electronic dream pop duo made up of instrumentalist Fadi Tabbal and singer Julia Sabra. Blending ambient and industrial sounds, their music is moody and luminous at the same time. Ashkara The improvisational trio blending tarab with dabke rhythms has building a name for themselves in Beirut’s music scene with their signature psychedelic shaabi and groove mix.
Hadi Zeidan
Born in Beirut, Hadi is a producer and DJ whose bouncy electronica sounds explore multicultural identities, touching down somewhere between popular dancefloor music, an inspirer of collective nostalgia and a conduit for cosmic consciousness.
Bliss
Bliss is a rising grunge, dream-pop, shoegaze band made up of three university freshmen from Beirut, who are still carving a fresh sonic niche for themselves in the scene.
Amal Kaawash
Amal is a seasoned Palestinian songwriter and traditional Arabic singer, known for her unique way of storytelling that explores Levantine cultural heritage. She will be sharing a collection of her songs that tell stories inspired by the daily lives of Arabs while celebrating Palestinians resistance.
Eyten & Salwa Jaradat
Salwa Jaradat, one of the most influential figures in Lebanese traditional music scene, alongside veteran musician and producer Eyten aka ‘Wizard of Electronica’, will premiere a new project building on their 2022 EP ‘Galah Waji’, exploring themes of mother-tongue and coded language in Palestinian folklore as resistance.
Zaid Khaled
Since his emergence in the region’s music scene during the COVID19 pandemic, Jordanian artist Zaid Khaled has been redefining alt-Arabic pop with his eclectic blend of grieving romantic nostalgia and daring electronic tunes - an amalgamation of Mostafa Amar’s 80s and 90s pop with Jordan’s alternative underground energy.
