Music festivals will now need licenses

Small-scale events eligible for ministry's support

Organizing music festivals will from now on need prior permission of the Ministry of Tourism. The ministry issued a decision in September regulating public festivals and touristic events across the country.

“This is one of many strategic steps taken by the ministry within its plan to develop the tourism sector,” said Mona Fares, director of the touristic development department at the ministry. She said supplemental decrees will be issued at a later stage that would explain details of the decision and the implementation process.

The decision involves both annual and nonrecurring festivals. It stipulated that any party wishing to organize a festival should submit a request for a license to the ministry. The request requires presenting a touristic feasibility study of the planned project. A touristic committee will study the project file and decide whether or not to approve the event. The committee is chaired by the Minister of Tourism and includes 15 members, including a representative of the Ministry of Culture, president of the Syndicate of Media, president of the Syndicate of Journalists, president of the Syndicate of Editors, as well as three mayors, five members of already established festivals, and four members from the Ministry of Tourism.

According to Fares, the license is essential for new and small-scale festivals, which would be eligible to receive financial support from the ministry. Long-established festivals such as the Baalbeck and Beiteddine festivals already have a license from the ministry. The license for annual events is renewable.

The decision also aims to prevent the overlapping of events. After licenses are issued, the ministry would organize the calendar of events accordingly.