New festival Medaina to take place at Jordan’s Petra and Wadi Rum historic sites

A new festival called Medaina is launching in Jordan in 2024, taking place across Petra and the nearby Wadi Rum valley, also known as the Valley of the Moon or Mars on Earth due to its striking reddy landscape.

The multi-day event will feature a line-up of international and local musicians and breath-taking visuals, with a focus on music, art, gastronomy, culture and sustainability.

Medaina is situated within two enduring landscapes rich in archaeological significance and runs from May 22 to May 27, 2024. The opening day is held at the ancient wonder of the world Petra with a special presentation the following day, before festivities move to Wadi Rum on May 24, with a centrepiece party scheduled for the next day.

Put on by the Tithorea production company, co-founded by Shahin Mani and Sherif Koyess, the team behind Costa Rica’s Labryinto, Tale of Lele in Romania and the first year of Turkey’s Echoes from Agartha festival in collaboration with Gate Experience, Medaina derives its name from a combination of “Mediterranean” and the Arabic “ain” which means spring.

Co-Founder Shahin Mani says: “We’ve done festivals all over the world but I’m especially excited to present Medaina at the absolutely magical sites of Petra and Wadi Rum in Jordan. The synergy that has come together to make this historic celebration happen has been thrilling and the support from the Jordanian people and government is deeply inspiring. We’ll offer our fantastically state-of-the-art creative direction to make this an immersive experience of a lifetime.”

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Petra, the central location of the ancient Nabataean tribe, is a half-built, half carved city that became a major exchange hub for Chinese silks, Indian spies and Arabian incense as a crossroad between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia.

Beneath it ran an innovative water management system that allowed the relatively barren area to be a location of settlement during the Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine periods. It’s elaborate tomb and temple architecture and remnant tunnels house extensive archaeological remains, oozing with cultural and historical significance.

Wadi Rum is a UNESCO certified World Heritage Site where prehistoric civilisations imprinted rock carvings, inscriptions, and informative ruins. The russet landscape permeated with narrow gorges, natural arches and looming cliffs was used as a backdrop for parts of the final Star Wars film.

Against these bountiful backdrops, Medaina promises to display a musical line-up of innovative electronic, with attendees from over 70 countries expected to attend.

More information can be found here.

Tiffanie Ibe is Mixmag’s Digital Intern, follow her on Instagram