The 20th edition of the Gnaoua and World Music Festival kicked off on Thursday in the southern Moroccan city of Essaouira.

The Moroccan Maalem Mohamed Kouyou opened the festival before sharing the statge with the Brazilian artist Carlinhos Brown to produce a mixture of musical style blending Gnaoua with traditional Brazilian percussion.

The four-day festival will celebrate the traditional Gnaoua music, whose origins lie in sub-Saharan Africa and has evolved to include a mixture of Moroccan, African and African Islamic spiritual songs and rhythms and combines ritual poetry with traditional music and acrobatic dancing.

This year's festival will feature some famous names from various music backgrounds, including the blues of Lucky Peterson, jazz of Bill Laurence, the frenetic rhythms of Carlinhos Brown and the eminently wise voice of Ismael Lo.

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