GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — This year's Sea and Freedom Festival, an annual gathering organized by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music since 2015, gave Gazan artists the opportunity to perform traditional music of the region for a large audience.

The final performance of the festival took place Dec. 7, following four days of performances that started Nov. 23, at the Red Crescent Cinema in Gaza City’s western Tel al-Hawa district.

“The main goal of the festival was to give artists in Gaza the chance to show off their work to the Palestinian public, which is keen to hear music,” Ismail Daoud, a well-known Palestinian musician and professor at the conservatory, told Al-Monitor. “The Edward Said Conservatory is the only institution organizing regular music festivals in the Gaza Strip.”

Five veteran Palestinian musicians performed at the festival on the first day: Daoud, Ziyad al-Qusbughli, Abdul Fattah Najili, Hassan Yunes and Sami al-Susi. They played songs by famous Arab artists Umm Kulthum, Abduel Halim Hafez, Mohammad Abdul Wahab and Wadih El Safi in front of a large crowd. More than 300 people were present at the Red Crescent Cinema and organizers had to bring extra chairs.