MUTEK is a Canadian festival that has taken place in Montreal each year since 2000. Following trends in electronic music, the festival also features new music technology. The event includes performances as well as meetings, films and videos, and draws professionals from around the globe. Additionally, Montreal-based nonprofit electronic arts organization MUTEK offers preview performances, called Avant MUTEK, in different parts of North America to give audiences a sense of what takes place at the festival each year.
Since 2006, Dublin has been home to its City Soul Festival. The Irish festival includes a multicultural parade, a comedy club, a gospel brunch, movie and documentary viewings and a rising-performer competition called Soul Jam, among other events. Besides offering family entertainment, the festival raises money to help provide music education to children throughout Ireland.
Lovers of jazz can find global artists far from the typical US destinations like New York and Chicago at the Borneo Jazz Festival, formerly called the Miri International Jazz Festival, which takes place on the Malaysian side of the Pacific island of Borneo. This festival, which has free admission, features performers from Asia, Latin America, Europe and the United States. It also has an educational component. University students can intern with the festival to gain experience in event planning, marketing management, financial management and other areas. Students can also gain experience at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching, the largest city on Borneo. It features performers from around the world as well as native performers from the Pacific Islands.
The Gnaoua World Music Festival takes place each year in Essaouria, Morocco. On eight stages artists perform both music and dance. The trance-like Gnaoua music, with roots in sub-Saharan Africa, is generally practiced in Algeria and Morocco. The music is a combination of Berber, Arabic and African religious rhythms and songs and includes acrobatics as well as dancing.