The story
L'Boulevard Festival in Casablanca
L'Boulevard Festival grew out of a 1999 street-culture initiative by Mohamed Merhari, known as Momo, and Hicham Bahou into the largest urban music event in North Africa. Beyond its core concert festival, it comprises the Tremplin battle-of-the-bands competition spanning hip-hop, rock, and fusion categories, and Sbagha Bagha, a graffiti-art component covering Casablanca's White City walls in murals, with its 23rd edition drawing more than 40,000 attendees.
In 1999, Mohamed Merhari, known widely as Momo, and Hicham Bahou looked at Casablanca's emerging underground music scene and saw something worth building infrastructure around rather than leaving to scattered independent shows.